Police pepper spray BLM march to polling place

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Law enforcement officers used pepper spray on Saturday to break up a march to a polling place in Graham, North Carolina.

According to a statement from the Graham Police Department, officers pepper sprayed the ground to disperse the crowd when the demonstration was deemed "unsafe and unlawful" due to unspecified "actions."

The "I Am Change" march was branded as a "march to the polls" where participants were encouraged to march in honor of Black people whose deaths have fueled protests over racial injustice, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Trayvon Martin, among others, according to a flyer for the event.

Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the families of numerous victims of police brutality, was scheduled to speak at the event, the flyer shows, along with Brooke Williams, George Floyd's niece.

Video published by the Raleigh News & Observer appears to show demonstrators and law enforcement scuffling over sound equipment in front of the Graham courthouse. Alamance County Sheriff's deputies wearing gray uniforms soon deploy pepper spray, and at least one deputy is seen spraying a man in the face. Others spray toward demonstrators' feet.

At least eight people were arrested during the rally on various charges, including failure to disperse and one instance of assault on a law enforcement officer, Graham police said.