A woman who took part in the toppling of a Confederate statue in Durham has been arrested and slapped with felony charges, cops said Tuesday.
Takiya Thompson, 22, has been charged with disorderly conduct by injury to a statue, damage to real property, participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 — and inciting others to riot where there is property damage in excess of $1,500, according to the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.
The last two offenses are Class H and Class F felonies, with each carrying a sentence of up to 25 months and 41 months behind bars, respectively.
Deputies took Thompson, a member of the far-left Workers World Party and a student at N.C. Central University, into custody Tuesday shortly after she appeared at a press conference with other protesters.
“The people decided to take matters into our own hands and remove the statue,” Thompson told reporters. “We are tired of waiting on politicians who could have voted to remove the white supremacist statues years ago, but they failed to act. So we acted.”
Investigators said Thompson confessed to climbing the monument and aiding in its removal after being identified through cellphone video.
Authorities have been are using the footage, which was captured by cops, to identify all of those responsible and bring them to justice.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
