Woman charged with intent to kill after police say she hit protesters blocking road. But here's what the video shows.



North Carolina authorities have charged a woman with serious felonies after they say she hit two protesters demonstrating in the street this week,

Video of the incident, however, has provided additional insight into what happened.

What are the details?

Elizabeth City police arrested 41-year-old Lisa Michelle O'Quinn after she allegedly hit two people on Monday who were "peacefully protesting and exercising their constitutional rights," according to a press release.

Protesters were demonstrating in the roadway and blocking traffic from moving as normal. Elizabeth City has been the site of demonstrations for about a month after police there killed Andrew Brown Jr., a black man whose death a prosecutor has ruled "justified."

Police charged O'Quinn with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill by use of a motor vehicle, one count of careless and reckless conduct and one count of unsafe movement.

Investigators even said they are gathering evidence to determine if O'Quinn committed a hate crime. O'Quinn is white and the two people she allegedly hit are black women. Both victims were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries, then later released.

"The police department is currently investigating this matter and we will be presenting facts and findings in this case to include potential aggravating factors for criminal enhancements for potential sentencing purposes of a hate crime involving this event," the department said.

What does the video show?

Video uploaded to social media showed what happened in the alleged assault.

O'Quinn can be seen driving a white car and attempting to make a right turn onto a street where protesters were demonstrating. O'Quinn inched forward and slowly made her turn while honking her horn. The protesters then began beating on O'Quinn's vehicle, and she responded by speeding up. One of the protesters fell to the ground, then got up and walked away.

Protesters In Elizabeth City, NC...Hit With Car By Racist Confederate Support #Justice4AndrewBrown https://t.co/gZdNVzkcRq

— Kerwin Pittman (@KerwinPittman) 1621909574.0

With protesters now routinely demonstrating on public roadways, some politicians have advocated providing drivers with immunity if they strike protesters blocking the road.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) recently signed into law an "anti-riot" bill that, among other things, provides drivers with civil immunity if they strike protesters blocking the road, so long as they claim they did so to protect their life. Oklahoma has enacted a similar law.

North Carolina once considered such legislation — in fact, one bill passed the state House in 2017 — but the effort ultimately fizzled out.

NC district attorney says sheriff's deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. were 'justified'



The sheriff's deputies who fatally shot 42-year-old black man Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, last month were "justified" in doing so, a state prosecutor announced Tuesday.

In a news conference relaying the results of an independent investigation into the incident conducted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Pasquotank County District Attorney R. Andrew Womble said, "While tragic, the shooting of Mr. Brown was justified because of his actions."

The district attorney announced that none of the three Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies who fired their weapons during the incident will face charges since their actions were spurred on by Brown's use of his car as a "deadly weapon" while he was attempting to evade arrest, WAVY-TV reported.

"No officers will be criminally charged," Womble said. "The officers' actions were consistent with their training and fully supported under law."

"The deputies faced both actual and apparent danger as perceived by them on the scene," he added. "This apparent threat was reinforced by Brown's dangerous and felonious use of a deadly weapon. As tragic as this incident is with the loss of life, the deputies on scene were nonetheless justified in defending themselves from death or great bodily injury."

Brown was shot and killed while behind the wheel of his vehicle while deputies were attempting to serve a warrant for his arrest on felony drug charges on April 21, just days after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder and manslaughter for his role in George Floyd's death.

Body camera footage of the incident shows Brown accelerate his vehicle in attempt to vacate the area as deputies pulled up to his home to arrest him. Two deputies were situated in the direction that Brown was heading as he turned his vehicle and drove out of the driveway.

(Warning: The following video contains graphic content and vulgar language)

Pasquotank DA shows body cam footage from fatal shooting death of Andrew Brown www.youtube.com

But Brown's family and their lawyers had argued that law enforcement overreacted to the situation, needlessly firing at a suspect who was attempting to flee the scene, not hurt officers, NBC News reported. An autopsy report showed that Brown was struck with five bullets during the incident, including one to the back of the head, which proved fatal.

But in his explanation, Womble cited case law that grants police the right to use deadly force against a fleeing criminal suspect who is driving recklessly and thereby posing a threat to public safety.

"Once a threat is perceived ... and the officers fire the first shot, if the first shot is justified, the last shot is justified until the threat is extinguished," Womble said.

"But the question is when is that threat extinguished?" asked Duke University Law School professor Jim Coleman in an interview with NBC News. "It's very clear what was going on: He was trying to escape, he was not trying to ram his car into officers."