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Statement

MomsRising Members Among Families, Community Members Attacked by Police at Peaceful Voting March in Graham, North Carolina Today

October 31, 2020
Police Reform, North Carolina

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of Beth Messersmith, Senior Campaign Director, North Carolina at MomsRising, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, including 47,000 in North Carolina, on the police assault on people, including moms and children, at a peaceful voting march to the polls in Graham, NC today:

“In North Carolina and throughout our country, we have the right to make our voices heard and our votes count. The march in Graham today was peaceful and was designed to get out the vote. It included public officials, kicked off at a house of worship, and included a moment of silence for George Floyd. That is North Carolina, and America, at our best. There was no excuse for police to attack marchers, including children, moms, seniors, and people with disabilities. There is a long history, especially in the southern states previously covered by the Voting Rights Act, of voter suppression through police violence. The voter intimidation that took place today harkens back to our shameful past and must never be allowed to happen again. We call on our state’s leaders to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.

“MomsRising member Elizabeth Waugh Duford was at the march. She said:

Earlier today, I gathered with a diverse group of families to march together to the polls to vote in honor of all those killed by law enforcement. After peacefully marching through the streets with a police escort, we paused in downtown Graham to remember George Floyd. When we did, we were attacked by police using pepper spray. They pepper sprayed children and elders. I saw a woman in a wheelchair have a seizure after being sprayed and the police rendered no aid. Children ran away and vomited. It was horrifying and sad. Families who came to vote together were met with brute force by police. Police suppressed our votes, in the shadow of a confederate monument. This should never happen in the United States of America and it certainly shouldn’t be happening in 2020. It was horrifying and it is unacceptable.

“Moms are shocked, outraged and repulsed by what happened in Graham today -- and by the violence and intimidation we saw today in Texas and elsewhere when Trump supporters surrounded Biden/Harris buses and intimidated those inside. The right to speak out, to protest, and to vote are bedrock foundations of our democracy and must be protected. Today’s actions were gross violations of our rights.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.