Eight charged with resisting, assaulting officers during Saturday 'Silent Sam' protest
The University of North Carolina on Sunday identified eight people arrested in connection with a Saturday afternoon protest at the former site of the "Silent Sam" statue.
The event began with a potluck organized by the Defend UNC group but escalated when members of the New Confederate States of America arrived, draped in Confederate flags.
Students had organized a cookout and canned food drive in protest of the group they believe to be white supremacists. Police seized the donated canned goods, saying they could be a danger on campus and offered to deliver them to a shelter.
Once the students and members of the New Confederate States of America were both on campus, the groups began yelling back and forth, as those in opposition to the return of the “Silent Sam” statue yelled “Nazis go home" and threatened to pull the statue down again if it returns to campus.
Video from the scene showed that the two groups were being kept away from each other with barricades.
After about an hour, the members of the New Confederate States of America were willingly escorted off campus by police and the situation escalated as the group of anti-"Silent Sam" demonstrators turned on police, upset that law enforcement protected a group they believe stands for hate.
Police from Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro held the crowd back as they pushed through and a line of bicycles was used to keep students back.
Authorities said the following eight people were charged in connection with the protests:
- Jayna Corinne Fishman, 22, was charged with assault on a campus police officer
- Julia Tatiana Pulawski, 30, was charged with resisting a public officer and assault on a campus police officer
- Brandon Alexander Webb, 27, was charged with disorderly conduct at a protest in connection with the detonation of a smoke bomb, and resisting a public officer.
- Jody Anderson, 21, was charged with assault on a government official
- Joseph Baldoni Karlik, 27, was charged with resisting a public officer and failure to disperse
- Jaya Athavale, 18, was charged with resisting a public officer and failure to disperse
- Joshua Abram Macharka, 25, was charged with assault on a government official, resisting an officer, possession of weapons on educational property in connection with the possession of two knives, and failure to disperse
- Christopher David Wells, 30, was charged with resisting a public officer and failure to disperse
"On Saturday afternoon, concurrent events were scheduled on UNC-Chapel Hill's McCorkle Place by two separate groups. UNC police and other law enforcement agencies worked together to maintain the safety of all gathered as verbal interaction between the two groups grew heated," UNC police said in a statement. "As participants departed, some individuals confronted and assaulted officers. Law enforcement officals made eight arrests before clearing the area around 7:30 p.m."
The eight people arrested Saturday join a growing list of more than a dozen people arrested in connection with the toppling of the Silent Sam Statue and a series of subsequent protests at McCorkle Place.
The “Silent Sam” statue was toppled by protesters on Aug. 20 after being an issue of contention at the university for years.
The “Silent Sam” statue has been in storage since it was toppled and UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt and the university’s Board of Trustees have until mid-November to present a plan for the future of the statue to the Board of Governors.
