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Fourth Night Of RNC Protests In Charlotte Ends With Pepper Spray, At Least 7 Arrests

David Boraks
/
WFAE
Protesters face police Monday night in uptown Charlotte after the city's portion of the Republican National Convention ended.

Protesters gathered in uptown Monday evening after Charlotte's portion of the Republican National Convention ended. Earlier in the day, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence addressed GOP delegates at the Charlotte Convention Center. It was the fourth night in a row that there were demonstrations against the RNC in the city. 

Credit David Boraks / WFAE
/
WFAE
Protesters march through uptown Charlotte on Monday night.

The march started just before 9 p.m. at Marshall Park, where organizers handed out masks and face shields. About 150 people — more than other recent nights during the convention — marched through uptown and into the South End briefly. Chants included "Black Lives Matter" and "No justice, no peace, wake up." 

At one point, on Carson Boulevard, someone burned an American flag and police on bikes quickly formed a line. Marchers faced them, opened umbrellas and started yelling.

CMPD tweeted that a demonstrator pushed an officer off his bike when he tried to put out the fire. Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston, who was at the protests, called CMPD's tweet "a lie." 

Police used pepper spray and made two arrests. Afterward, a WFAE reporter could see some wiping their faces after getting pepper-sprayed. Among those pepper-sprayed was Winston, reported the Charlotte Observer.

video posted to Twitter on Tuesday after midnight appeared to show a group of officers using their bikes to knock down demonstrators. One ran his bike over the legs of a woman who was pepper-sprayed and collapsed in the street.

By 11 p.m., the crowd was less than 100. Shortly after midnight, police said they tried to stop protester from cutting the rope on a flag pole at CMPD's headquarters. Police say they used pepper spray when other people intervened. Four people were arrested and, according to CMPD, two were hurt and taken to a hospital. 

Credit David Boraks / WFAE
/
WFAE
Protesters gathered in uptown Charlotte on Monday night after the city's portion of the Republican National Convention ended.

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.