Police Identify Suspect Who Threatened Man Campaigning For GOP At Polling Place
UPDATE:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The man who made racial slurs ad displayed a handgun to a man campaigning for the GOP at an early voting site has been identified as 28-year-old Jason Donald Wayne.
He has been charged with going armed to the terror of people, ethnic intimidation, communicating threats and disorderly conduct.
Wayne is currently in the custody of the Mecklenburg County Jail.
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CHARLOTTE, NC.– A suspect has been arrested after police say he made racial slurs, said profanities and displayed what looked like to be a handgun to a man campaigning for the GOP. It happened at an early voting site in Charlotte. The victim believes he was threatened because of his race.
Profanity and racial slurs. Derek Partee says that’s what he heard when he approached this two men. He says they were taking pictures in the parking lot of the Steele Creek early voting site where he was campaigning Wednesday. Partee says it went from offensive to dangerous.
“As he’s following me while I’m backing up, he exposes his weapons, I see the revolver on his hip,” says Partee.
Police say after the arrest, they found out it was a BB gun.
In the moment, the former police detective says he backed up, trying to deescalate the situation. He says a woman who was with the men came out of the polling place.
“They said, you Democrats, and I said, I’m a Republican, I’m not a Democrat, I’m Republican.”
Partee says the insults and profanity continued, so he called 911 and filed a police report. The group left before police arrived.
Partee says he’s sad that our country has come to this.
“It’s not about being Republican or Democrat it the fact I was black. That was the anger that they portray towards me.”
Partee says he spent 25 years as a police detective in New York, and is used to intense situations. He tells me he’d never seen those people before. Others at the polling site say the group was seen taking pictures a few days ago too.
