GRAHAM, N.C. — The Alamance County Sheriff's Office held a presser Monday following Graham police and demonstrators held clashing press conferences this weekend after demonstrators were pepper sprayed and arrested at a rally.
Latest story from Sunday:
The day after demonstrators and law enforcement clashed in Graham on the final day of early voting in NC, both sides held their own press conferences Sunday to explain their perspective on what happened and why.
Police and demonstrators disagreed on nearly every detail: The event's planning process, purpose of the event, permission to stand in the road, number of arrests made, assault on an officer, warnings to disperse, severity of the pepper-based chemical deployed, and more.
On Saturday afternoon, an estimated 150 people gathered for a rally called "I Am Change," which organizers said involved people marching to the polls. The event ended in chaos when officers deployed pepper spray foggers and arrested several demonstrators.
RELATED: Law enforcement pepper sprays and arrests demonstrators during march to polls event in Graham
Disagreements between police and rally organizers started during planning
For the perspective of the Graham Police Department, Lt. Daniel Sisk addressed reporters Sunday morning at the police department.
"We want to start by saying that we understand the public's needs for answers," Sisk said at the start of the press conference.
The demonstrators shared their perspective in a press conference outside the childhood home of event organizer Reverend Gregory Drumwright, where multiple people spoke, including an Elon University student who among the arrested.
You can watch both below:
Lt. Sisk told reporters tension between law enforcement and Drumwright started during the event's planning process, which Sisk said started in early October. He said the department requested to meet with Drumwright to do a "walk-through" of the rally, but he did not meet with them.
Sisk said police sent Drumwright a "safety plan" for the event, which involved police leading marchers from a chapel to the courthouse in Downtown Graham. Then, demonstrators would "disperse" into the courthouse grounds, where overflow would be provided.
Drumwright told reporters he coordinated with Graham Police and the Alamance County Sheriff's Office as he did with previous rallies, spending many hours meeting with officers and public officials.
Conflict over whether marching in the streets was allowed
Lt. Sisk told reporters that a major source of conflict was disagreements over road closures and protesters marching in the streets on the final day of early voting in North Carolina.
"(Drumwright) requested road closures at Court Square and Main, which due to the proximity to the voting polls, we were not willing to authorize because it would limit access to the voting polls," Sisk said. "He still wanted to close the roads... it was made very clear that no road closure was authorized."
Drumwright insisted the polling site was accessible by many different roads while demonstrators marched in the street.
"What did we do that would warrant the use of excessive force and pepper spray or tear gas?" Drumwright said.
Police say an officer was assaulted
Sisk said someone assaulted a Graham Police Officer: "He was struck in the chest."
"Toward the conclusion of the event, the sheriff's office had interaction with people in the rally, that led to people coming out into the streets. When we tried to prevent people being in the streets at that point, one of our officers was assaulted. At that point, we deemed it was an unsafe event, and deemed it was unlawful, and went ahead and dispersed the crowd."
Drumwright told reporters he found it "hard to believe" that someone assaulted an officer, given the extent of the armed officers at the event.
A pepper-based chemical sprayed
Sisk said officers used a "pepper fogger" instead of physical force, and told reporters that the chemical was "never directed at any person, we directed it toward the ground that created a vapor that kind of went into the air that created an irritant."
Sisk denied reports chemicals were deployed at children or people with disabilities. Drumwright said tear gas was sprayed at young children, elderly people, and disabled people.
"We allowed them to pause for 8 minutes and 40 some seconds and after about 9 minutes told them they needed to clear the road. Once it was clear they had no intention to clear the road, we sprayed a couple sprays on the ground and the crowds moved," Sisk said.
Sisk said use of force by officers will be investigated, per department policy.
Eight people were arrested by Graham Police, including a member of the media, Sisk said. Their names have not been released, but Sisk said the charges include resist, delay, and obstruct, failure to disperse, and assault on a law enforcement officer. Drumwright said he believes more arrests were made. The Alamance News Newspaper posted on Facebook that one of their reporters was arrested.
Sisk said the reporter was arrested because he did not get out of the road after being asked to move by an officer five times.
Drumwright said another march and rally is being planned at 9 a.m. on Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 3.
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