Activists arrested after pro-Trump billboard is vandalized in North Carolina, cops say
Four activists on the North Carolina coast accused of vandalizing a billboard in support of President Donald Trump earlier this month turned themselves in to local authorities Tuesday.
The billboard, which read “Wilmington for Trump,” was vandalized overnight between Oct. 8 and 9, WWAY reported at the time.
Perched across the street from a “Black Lives Do Matter” art installation, the billboard — which is paid for by the New Hanover County GOP and has since been replaced — has been the source of some controversy, according to local media outlets.
Some residents argued it misrepresented the city’s political beliefs, WWAY reported.
In a statement Tuesday, New Hanover GOP Chairman Will Knecht called the vandalism “an attack on First Amendment liberties enjoyed by all Americans” and thanked the police for their work.
“We condemn the attempt to stamp out opposing political beliefs and viewpoints by bullying, intimidation, theft, and defacing of property... by anyone be they Democrat or Republican,” Knecht said. “We believe the individuals charged today are innocent until proven guilty and look forward to the due process of law playing out.”
A spokesperson for the Wilmington Police Department confirmed to McClatchy News the accuracy of a report by WECT that said the following people were arrested Tuesday on misdemeanor charges: Nicole Nichelle Nelson, 33; Joshua Gordon Zieseniss, 21; Marion Timothy Joyner, 34; and James Earl Frazier, 27.
According to jail logs, Nelson — who also goes by Lily Nicole — was charged with injury to real and personal property. Joyner, Zieseniss and Frazier were charged with injury to personal and real property as well as second-degree trespassing.
Nelson, Joyner and Zieseniss are members of “the lowercase leaders,” a group that’s been active in Wilmington’s Black Lives Matter protests.
All four were released Tuesday from the New Hanover County jail on bail, The Wilmington Star News reported.
Wilmington’s political past
The arrests come as Wilmington has spent the last few months grappling with its racist history, propelled in part by the Black Lives Matter movement that gained momentum across much of the U.S. after George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died while in the custody of Minneapolis police in May.
The city made national headlines this summer when three veteran police officers were suddenly fired after recordings from a patrol car captured them “venting” about Black people and using racial slurs. It was one of the first official actions taken by Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams, who is Black, after he took office.
Citing public safety, the city of Wilmington removed two Confederate monuments that same week.
“About damn time. We asked for it years ago,” Nicole, one of the four arrested Tuesday, told The News & Observer in June.
Wilmington is the seat of New Hanover County, which was previously considered a “bellwether” county, the Politics NC blog reported in 2013.
Bellwether counties are typically indicative of how the state or country will vote. The New York Times described New Hanover County in 2013 as having “been an almost exact barometer of the statewide vote in North Carolina for the past three presidential elections,” according to Politics NC.
The county has leaned decidedly red in recent years. But Nelson Beaulieu, a political science professor at Cape Fear Community College, told WWAY it remains an important indicator in the 2020 election.
“If you can carry New Hanover County, chances are you’re going to carry the state,” he said.
