Arrest at NC flea market an example of ‘violent propensities’ of police, lawyers say
The attorneys for a shopper arrested at a North Carolina flea market say their client is “another Black man being subjected to the violent propensities of law enforcement.”
Charles Redell Moody was arrested at Cooks Flea Market in Winston-Salem on Saturday after police say he refused to wear a face mask in the store, McClatchy News previously reported. Video of the arrest by a white sheriff’s deputy has circulated on social media.
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr. said Monday the deputy, who was working extra duty at the flea market, did not use excessive force.
But Moody’s attorneys, James Quander and Stacey Rubain, posted a statement on Facebook Tuesday saying the deputy’s actions did constitute excessive force and that they will conduct their own investigation into video footage, including that from the deputy’s body-worn camera.
The video posted on social media, which includes explicit language, shows the deputy tell Moody twice to put his hands behind his back. The deputy put his hand on the back of Moody’s neck, and the two struggled for about 40 seconds before Moody was put in handcuffs.
Moody was injured in the encounter, his attorneys said in their statement.
“Cook’s Flea Market was the site of another Black man being subjected to the violent propensities of law enforcement,” they said. “Far too often unnecessary police contact results in the serious injury and deaths of Black men. We can only be grateful that Charles did not meet that same fate.”
The incident comes as nationwide protests and calls for police reform continue after death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police in May. The officer who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes has been charged with murder, and three others also face charges.
The Forsyth County sheriff, who is Black, said he could not base his decisions on “the culture and the climate that we’re in.”
“If my guys are wrong, I’ll be the first one to check them because, before I was the sheriff, before I was an agent, I was a Black man,” Kimbrough said during a news conference Monday. “I understand the sensitivity of being colored, Black, African American. But what I don’t get into is that we’re not going to manipulate a situation based on the culture and the climate that we’re in. We cannot do that.”
Moody reportedly said he forgot to wear a face mask that day and wasn’t asked to leave the flea market.
Face masks are required in public in North Carolina under an order from Gov. Roy Cooper. Those who refuse to wear a mask in a business can be charged with trespassing.
Moody was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest.
