Thursday, April 9
( updated 8:38 am)
By Lorraine Ahearn
Staff Writer
Greensboro News and Record

GRAHAM — Rival protesters, kept a block apart by the very jail at issue, held peaceful immigration rallies Wednesday that nevertheless ended in the arrests of seven demonstrators, one dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

The protest and counterprotest in the county seat, each drawing more than 100 participants, came as disagreement mounts over immigration enforcement efforts by Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson.

Earlier this week, an Elon University political science professor released a study of court data showing that Alamance deputies pulled Hispanics for traffic stops 1,344 times over four years instead of the 494 times the sheriff reported.

The news fueled Wednesday’s march by a statewide immigration rights group, Witness for Peace. The march began in Burlington and ended at the Alamance Detention Center.

There, several demonstrators sat in front of the doors to the new jail. After a number of warnings from Graham police Capt. Steve McGilvray not to block the entrance, the protesters were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

In a theatrical flourish, protester Patrick O’Neill was dressed as an ICE agent, and he demanded that police arrest fellow protester Audrey Schwankl, wearing a Lady Liberty costume.

Schwankl, already wearing her own handcuffs, shouted, “Liberty is arrested in Alamance County!â€