Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:50 pm
Wondering what happened to those sheriff’s deputies who just watched and did nothing to the white man (later identified as 78-year-old John McGraw) who sucker punched Rakeem Jones, a protester in their custody during a March 9th Donald Trump rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina?
After they dragged the protester to the ground they left the white Trump supporter and sucker-punching assaulter free to go about his business. Not exactly stellar security work.
Five Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies have been disciplined as a result of their “failure to discharge their duties” and “unsatisfactory performance”, according to a press release issued by Cumberland County Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler. Three deputies were demoted in rank and two others were suspended for three days without pay. All five were placed on probation for 12 months.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
The actions of the deputies and their failures to act in situations such as that which occurred during the Trump rally at the Crown Coliseum have never been and will not ever be tolerated under the policies of this office,” said Cumberland County Sheriff Butler said in a press release.
Watch the deputies ignore the assaulter and instead drag the victim to the ground:
Yeah, they see McGraw sucker punch their detainee and they don’t even try to intervene, let alone physically restrain him:
Help me identify the racist Trump supporter who repeatedly punched this protestor in the face last night.
CRIMINAL!https://t.co/lNrUME2jCo
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) March 10, 2016
John McGraw was possibly so emboldened by his experience of having his violence toward a black person endorsed by sheriff’s deputies that he threatened to kill the protester, “Yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.”
McGraw was charged with assault and disorderly conduct on March 10th. Apparently charges of threats were later added.
The full Cumberland Country Sheriff’s press release was shared here by Jeremy Diamond of CNN:
5 sheriff's deputies disciplined re: Trump supporter punching protester at rally. Failed to detain assailant on site pic.twitter.com/1gOhtJCNBq
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) March 16, 2016
Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
