The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced Saturday that eight people were arrested during a 10-hour “protest and standoff” that stemmed from a “cultural event” in Eritrea.
Clashes broke out between rival groups of Eritreans, and police confirmed that officers attempting to disperse the illegal crowd were attacked by people brandishing sticks and stones.
Crowds also set a tractor on fire in North Carolina’s largest city, and police seized two firearms within hours.
Fox News Digital reached out to the department on Sunday seeking the identities and further information of the eight people arrested.
The incident began shortly after 11:30 a.m. Saturday when CMPD’s Providence Division responded to an “unlawful protest in the parking lot of a business hosting an Eritrean cultural event” on Monroe Road. Police said in a press release: “Officers closed Monroe Road as the protesters were on private property and spilled onto the road. Dispersal orders were issued to demonstrators repeatedly throughout the protest. However, they refused to disband.” “Charlotte Fire and MEDIC responded to assist.”
Shortly after 3 p.m., officers from the CMPD bicycle unit attempted to remove protesters from the street.
“Several demonstrators threw objects and pushed back at officers. Officers then used pepper spray,” the police department confirmed. “Multiple protesters and police officers were treated at the scene for injuries from pepper spray.”
Alleged massacre of civilians reported in Ethiopia as US calls for investigation
According to police, a female protester punched a police officer and a firearm was confiscated from her.
Charlotte police officers respond to a protest at a cultural event in Eritrea. (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department)
She was charged with inciting a riot, failing to disperse, damaging personal property and assaulting a government official.
Charges against all eight suspects included obstruction of traffic and failure to disperse.
According to police, another dispersal order was issued shortly after 6:30 p.m. when protesters began blocking the entrance to a private company hosting a cultural event.
CMPD’s Civilian Emergency Unit was called out to disperse the crowd just after 7:20 p.m.
“Officers were met with violence and hostility, and protesters threw objects,” the department said in its initial press release. “For several hours, CEU issued multiple dispersal orders in English and Spanish, only to be met with renewed violence from demonstrators brandishing sticks and stones.”
“Protesters then intentionally set a nearby tractor-trailer on fire. Charlotte Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire and contained the scene,” police said in a statement. “Shortly before 9 p.m., officers assisted participants in the cultural event to leave the scene. Demonstrators initially remained at the scene but quickly dispersed.”
On Saturday night, Eritreans set a fire in The Hague, Netherlands. (Reuters/Instagram @Sterkbusiness)
Police provided regular updates on X as the incident unfolded.
Hundreds of African migrants get into scuffles, leaving Israeli streets covered in blood
One post showed how cultural events in Eritrea were being protested by rival groups, but further information was not immediately available. CMPD wrote at the time: “Those attending the event where the protest was taking place left the scene after the event. Protesters remain at the scene and have not yet dispersed.”
The violence in North Carolina occurred on the same day that violence broke out between two rival groups of Eritreans in the Netherlands on Saturday night.
Police said officers used tear gas to quell riots in The Hague as rioters torched police cars and buses.
Images from the scene showed vehicles on fire and dozens of men throwing rocks in the street.
On Saturday, rival Eritreans set fire to the streets of The Hague, Netherlands. (Reuters/Instagram @Sterkbusiness)
Robin Middel, a spokesperson for the city of The Hague, said groups loyal to the Eritrean government were holding a rally when the venue was attacked by Eritrean opponents of the African nation’s government. Police spokesman Christian van Blanken said he could not immediately say whether anyone was injured or if any rioters were arrested.
The fighting is the latest outbreak of violence in Eritrean events in Europe.
Dozens of people, including at least 26 police officers, were injured in riots surrounding an Eritrean cultural festival in the southwestern German city of Stuttgart in September 2023. That same month, fighting between Eritrean government supporters and opponents in Tel Aviv led to violent street clashes. Among asylum seekers and migrants in Africa.
A few months ago, 22 police officers were injured in a clash at an Eritrean festival in the western German city of Giessen.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Tens of thousands of people have fled Eritrea to Europe, many of whom say they have suffered abuse from President Isaias Afwerki’s repressive government. The conflict highlights deep divisions within the Eritrean diaspora between those who remain close to the government and those who have defected and strongly oppose Afwerki.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
