NC Democrat Charged For Spitting On Protester At Pride Event Co-Sponsored By Sex Offender

A pattern of violence, anger, denial at Union County Pride

Assault charges have been filed against Derek Warriner, an executive officer with the Union County, South Carolina Democratic Party, for spitting on a protester at a Pride event held in Crossing Paths Park.

Brian Talbert says that at about 2:30 in the afternoon of 11 October, Mr. Warriner exited the Pride event, walked straight toward him, and spit at him in the presence of law enforcement officers. “He didn’t even say a word after that.”

The spitter was a complete stranger. “I had never met him before,” Mr. Talbert tells The Distance. “The first time I saw him was when he spit on me.” Alert for threats, Mr. Talbert says he was already taking a step back and blocked the spit with his sign.

Mr. Talbert says that he complained immediately to a deputy. “The spit was still rolling down my sign” as “I pointed out who had done it”, he says. When the deputy was reluctant to act, “I said, ‘So if I go and spit on one of their signs, I’m not going to be arrested, correct?’ He never said a word.”

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