Police have charged a man with threatening an African-American GOP volunteer Wednesday at an early voting precinct in Charlotte's Steele Creek area.
According to Mecklenburg County Jail records, police have charged 28-year-old Jason Donald Wayne of Charlotte with four misdemeanor counts: ethnic intimidation, going armed to the terror of the people, disorderly conduct and communicating threats.
The volunteer, Derek Partee posted on Facebook that he was stumping for Republican candidates when two white men and a woman approached him directing racial slurs at him. One of the men, he says, then lifted up his shirt and exposed a gun in a hip holster. Partee took photos and posted them on Facebook.
He wrote: "I had to back off and call CMPD, folks are getting bold and forward." CMPD says officers were able to identify the three people and about seven hours later arrested the man with the pistol, which they identified as a BB gun.
According to a CMPD press release, Partee "stated that he was working at the voting location when he observed the suspect in the parking lot with a camera photographing or recording the polling location. The victim approached the suspect, at which time the suspect began directing racial slurs towards the victim. The victim stated that the suspect threatened to assault him before lifting his shirt and displaying a handgun which was in a holster on the suspect’s belt. The victim advised that the suspect never assaulted him or attempted to remove the handgun from the holster. "
CMPD says it's in communication with the FBI about the possibility of federal charges being filed.
The two people with Wayne were not arrested. CMPD says officers determined they did not violate any laws.
Wayne has been arrested four times since March of 2017, according to jail records. He's previously been charged with simple assault, assault on a female, and possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors.