Authorities arrested a driver Monday after she allegedly struck two peaceful black protesters with her car, according to authorities.
Lisa Michelle O’Quinn has been taken into custody for striking two peaceful protesters at a protest for the death of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, authorities said. O’Quinn has been charged with “two felonious counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with the Intent to Kill by the use of a motor vehicle” and could face a hate crime penalty, according to Elizabeth City Police Department’s press release.
Press Release pic.twitter.com/7r9q4BpN5g
— Elizabeth City PD (@elizcityPD) May 25, 2021
The department said that they are investigating whether O’Quinn committed a hate crime against the protesters. (RELATED: Seattle Man Who Drove Into Black Lives Matter Protest Charged With 3 Felonies)
The two victims, Michelle Fleming Morris and Valerie Lindsey, were taken to the Sentara Albemarle Hospital after the incident. Both suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the press release. Police also said that Morris and Lindsey were “peacefully protesting and exercising their constitutional rights.”
The protest was in response to the April 21 shooting of Brown as he attempted to escape arrest in his car. Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble announced last week that the deputies were “justified” in shooting Brown for recklessly driving away from the officers.