Updated: UNC releases arrest information from Saturday's Silent Sam rally
Update 6:30 p.m.: Updated arrest information was sent by UNC Media Relations Sunday evening. Eight individuals were charged during Saturday's demonstration on McCorkle Place:
Jayna Corinne Fishman, Assault on Campus Police Officer
Julia Tatiana Pulawski, Resisting Public Officer/Assault on Campus Police Officer
Brandon Alexander Webb, Disorderly Conduct at a Protest (setting off smoke bomb)/Resisting Public Officer
Jody Anderson, Assault on Government Official
Joseph Baldoni Karlik, Resisting Public Officer /Failure to Disperse
Jaya Athavale, Resisting Public Officer Failure to Disperse
Joshua Abram Macharka, Assault Government Official /Resist Officer/Weapons on Educational Property (Possession of 2 knives)/Failure to Disperse
Christopher David Wells, Resisting Public Officer/Failure to Disperse
"UNC Police and other law enforcement agencies worked together to maintain the safety of all gathered as verbal interaction between the two groups grew heated," UNC Media Relations said in a statement. "As participants departed, some individuals confronted and assaulted officers. Law enforcement officials made eight arrests before clearing the area around 7:30 p.m."
Another night of rallies over the fallen Silent Sam ended with arrests as conflict erupted between protesters and police.
Eight arrests were made in connection to Silent Sam on Saturday night, UNC Media Relations said in a statement.
"Around 6:45 p.m. UNC Police cleared McCorkle Place under NC General Statute §14-288 due to disorderly conduct," the statement said. "Law enforcement used smoke to maintain safety and order."
Silent Sam’s pedestal was surrounded by barricades. The Morehead Planetarium parking lot, where members of CSA II: The New Confederate States of America arrived, was also blocked off with barriers. This area is where Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County N.C. also arrived for the Aug. 30 demonstration.
Individuals from the Chapel Hill community who have been advocating for the monument’s permanent removal heard about plans for an “Evening Prayer Service for Silent Sam” on Saturday organized by CSA II. In response, they planned a potluck and food drive near Silent Sam’s pedestal.
A group gathered for the potluck around a table with signs that read “CSA go away” and “anti-racists welcome.”
After a short period of gathering canned food for “those in need,” police took the demonstrators' cans and put them in a recycling bin that was chained shut. Witnesses said police told them the cans were confiscated because they could be used as weapons, but no official policy was cited.
“Why don’t you know what law you’re enforcing?” UNC student activist Maya Little asked police guarding the bin. “What law are we breaking by bringing cans to campus?”
The officers did not respond.
"UNC Police collected the canned goods for safety reasons," UNC Media Relations said in a statement. "They will deliver them to Heavenly Groceries, the charity that the food drive organizers designated to receive the donations."
Approximately 10 CSA II members came to McCorkle Place, donning Confederate flags, and were escorted by police to the monument’s pedestal. Demonstrators from both sides chanted for nearly an hour until Little led a crowd of demonstrators to the side of the barricade, where approximately five more members were let inside the barricades at 6 p.m.
As Little led chants against the cops, “cops and Klan go hand-in-hand,” community member Chris Thompson asked Little to leave the police alone.
“Your enemies are over there,” he said in reference to the CSA members.
Thompson was then denounced by the demonstrators, who continued shouting at police. Thompson told The Daily Tar Heel that, as a young Black male, he is against public display of Confederate flags and Silent Sam because of the historical context behind them.
However, he said he disagrees with the methods used in past demonstrations to show opposition to the statue and groups that support it.
“It’s counterproductive to be out here cussing them out because then we’re just stooping down to their level,” Thompson said. “We may disagree, but they’re people at the end of the day.”
During the rally on Saturday, September 8th a counter demonstrator proudly wears a button that states, "Fuck Your Pepper Spray."
Thompson emphasized opening dialogue with the groups supporting the monument to explain each other’s perspectives. At one point, Thompson spoke across a line of police and barriers with a man at Silent Sam’s base.
The man, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and a shirt with a Confederate flag insignia, told Thompson he wished more people would try to understand his views instead of denouncing them immediately. He compared people’s disapproval of his Confederate values with his own views on gay rights.
“I mean I’m Catholic, I don’t like seeing the rainbow flag,” the man said. “I’ve still got gay friends, but I don’t like to go into that. I don’t like to see it, but when I do see it, I’ll just keep on going.”
At around 6:30 p.m., the CSA members were escorted toward Morehead parking lot. Police used similar tactics as the last protest, such as bikes to separate the two groups. One demonstrator threw a smoke bomb as the police asked the crowd to back away.
Another demonstrator said he was cut by an officer’s bike spokes.
"I think the cops were out of control and undisciplined," said community activist Heather Redding. "The students were not violent; they were loud."
A smoke grenade deployed by the police to disperse the angry crowd of counter demonstrators fills the air with blue smoke on Saturday, September 8th.
On the other side of McCorkle Place, another individual was arrested near the potluck tables. The crowd ran toward the arrest as some members yelled, “Let him go.”
Police took the man into Graham Memorial Hall, the campus building used to hold those arrested in previous rallies. Demonstrators ran to the building and continued to push toward the entrance. As more police emerged from the building, they yelled for demonstrators to move back, but the crowd continued to push forward.
Chaos erupted as police and demonstrators clashed. Demonstrators were shoved by police as they surrounded the ongoing arrests. UNC Police used a smoke bomb that produced a large cloud of blue smoke.
The police shouted for the crowd to move toward Franklin Street.
A demonstrator draped in a Confederate flag rallies in support of Silent Sam on Saturday, September 8th.
“It’s heartbreaking to see what they’re doing to our campus and the students here,” said Caity McArthur, a UNC graduate. “They have, the police, have really framed the narrative that the Confederates, the Nazis, the white supremacists are the ones that need protecting, and that the students are the enemy.”
As the crowd began to disperse, Little spoke to a group about gathering support for those arrested.
“Until the school moves Silent Sam and the pedestal off campus, this is going to keep happening," Redding said. "This monument is a lightning rod for white supremacists."
