Lisa Michelle O’Quinn, a white driver, is in police custody and could face a hate crime penalty after she struck two Black women with a car during a protest Monday, May 24, who marched for the fatal police shooting of a Black man last month in North Carolina.
According to CNN, the incident took place during protests in Elizabeth City over the shooting of Andrew Brown Jr.
Brown was killed on April 21 by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies when they tried to serve him with an arrest warrant. District Attorney Andrew Womble announced last week that those deputies were justified in using deadly force under the idea that Brown “recklessly” drove at the officers in the attempt of fleeing arrest.
The case includes a prosecutor’s decision not to charge the deputies involved and has already raised intense national debate over how police treat Black people.
According to a news release, O’Quinn now faces two felonious counts of assault with a deadly weapon, that being her car, with the intent to kill. One count of careless and reckless driving and one count of unsafe movement.
Press Release pic.twitter.com/7r9q4BpN5g
— Elizabeth City PD (@elizcityPD) May 25, 2021
“A motorist struck two pedestrians who were peacefully protesting and exercising their constitutional rights,” the release said.
Police are currently investigating “to include potential aggravating factors for criminal enhancements for potential sentencing purposes of a hate crime involving this event” because O’Quinn is white.
O’Quinn was booked into the Albemarle District Jail with a $40,000 secured bond and had to appear in court Thursday, May 27, according to police.
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In their early 40s, neither woman who was struck suffered severe injuries. They were treated then released from a hospital.
