By Liora Engel-Smith and Melba Newsome, North Carolina Health News, June 8, 2020
Braxton Winston became a symbol of the Charlotte resistance during the September 2016 protests over the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott when he stripped off his shirt to use as a mask against tear gas and stood face face-to-face with police, clenched fist raised in defiance. Winston has since been elected to the City Council twice but his activism and advocacy have not dimmed.
Winston went to Charlotte’s west side in his official capacity to deescalate tensions surrounding the protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder. A video shows the unarmed councilman standing in the middle of the street before being aggressively arrested by more than a dozen CMPD officers.
Winston wasn’t alone. A similar incident occurred in Ohio on May 30, when 70-year-old African American Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D), was maced and pepper sprayed by police while talking to and meeting with constituents who were protesting the death of George Floyd.
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