Charlotte Protesters Attack Officers, Set Tractor-Trailer on Fire in Riot at Eritrean ‘Cultural Event’: Police

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department said eight people were arrested Saturday during a 10-hour “protest and standoff” that stemmed from an Eritrean “cultural event.”

Clashes erupted between rival groups of Eritreans, and police confirmed that officers trying to disperse the unlawful crowds were attacked by people wielding sticks, rocks and other items.

Crowds also set a tractor on fire in North Carolina’s largest city, and police seized a total of two firearms over the course of several hours.

Fox News Digital reached out to the department Sunday seeking the identities and more information about those eight arrested.

The incident first began shortly after 11:30 a.m. Saturday, when CMPD’s Providence Division responded to “an unlawful protest happening in the parking lot of a business hosting an Eritrean cultural event” on Monroe Road. “Protesters were on private property and were spilling out into the road, which prompted officers to close Monroe Road. Dispersal orders were repeatedly given to protesters throughout the duration of the protest, however they refused to disperse,” police said in a press release. {snip}

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Police said, during this time, a female protester struck an officer, and a firearm was seized from her person.

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“The officers were met with violence and hostility, with protesters throwing objects,” the department said in its initial press release. “Over the course of several hours, the CEU gave multiple dispersal orders in English and Spanish and were again met with violence from protesters wielding sticks, rocks and other items.”

“Protesters then intentionally set fire to a nearby tractor trailer. The Charlotte Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire and contained the scene,” police said. {snip}

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The North Carolina unrest happened the same day rioting broke out between two rival groups of Eritreans in the Netherlands on Saturday night.

Police said officers there used tear gas in an attempt to quell the unrest in The Hague as rioters torched police cars and a bus.

Images from the scene showed vehicles in flames and dozens of men in the street, some throwing rocks.

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