Durham County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested two more people who were allegedly involved in pulling down a Confederate statue on county property Monday night.
The arrests come one day after deputies arrested a woman named Takiyah Thompson, who allegedly put a tow rope around the neck of the statue so it could be pulled over.
ABC 11 reports the two suspects arrested Wednesday morning have been identified as “35-year-old Dante Emmanuel Strobino and 24-year-old Ngoc Loan Tran.” Strobino and Tran were charged with:
- Disorderly conduct by injury to a statue (Class II Misdemeanor)
- Damage to real property (statue as a fixture (Class I Misdemeanor)
- Participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 (Class H Felony)
- Inciting others to riot where there is property damage in excess of $1,500 (Class F Felony)
WNCN named Loan Tran as “a organizer” when reporting that the statue was toppled on Monday.
#BREAKING Protesters in #Durham topple confederate monument downtown pic.twitter.com/a3BNIavyxC
— Derrick Lewis (@DerrickQLewis) August 14, 2017
The arrests of Thompson, Strobino, and Tran come after Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews said his office was reviewing video of the attack on the statue in order to identify those involved.
The morning after the incident, Andrews posted a statement to Facebook, saying:
I am grateful the events that unfolded Monday evening did not result in serious injury or the loss of life, but the planned demonstration should serve as a sobering example of the price we all pay when civil disobedience is no longer civil. Before the protest, my staff met with our community partners to discuss how to safely and appropriately respond to the protest. County leaders were aware of the risk of damage to the Confederate statute, as well as, the potential risk of injury to the public and officers should deputies attempt to control the crowd. Collectively, we decided that restraint and public safety would be our priority. As the Sheriff, I am not blind to the offensive conduct of some demonstrators nor will I ignore their criminal conduct. With the help of video captured at the scene, my investigators are working to identify those responsible for the removal and vandalism of the statue.
On Tuesday the Associated Press reported Andrews’ intention to capture those identified and “charge them with felonies.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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