RISING TENSIONS

Armed White Man Confronted Black GOP Volunteer, Say Cops

Victim says he was assailed by racial slurs.

Police in North Carolina say an armed white man confronted a black Republican volunteer at a polling place. Volunteer Derek Partee told The News & Observer that three white people approached him Wednesday in Charlotte. Partee said the three threatened him and hurled racial slurs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said the armed man was carrying a BB gun—his identity hasn’t been released yet but police said he was arrested. The other two will reportedly not be charged because they were found to have not violated any laws. Partee says the people approached him asking about his party, but “they didn’t care whether I was a Democrat or a Republican, they just cared that I was black.”