VIDEO: 5 arrested at John Neville protest in Winston-Salem

After issuing a written warning, WSPD apprehended leaders of the demonstration outside the Forsyth County Detention Center

Last night’s protest outside the Forsyth County Detention Center in Winston-Salem was hastily thrown together, admitted organizer Tony Ndege — a reaction to the morning’s press conference in which Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough dismissed five corrections officers and the DA charged them with involuntary manslaughter in the death of John Neville.

Neville died after an event at the jail in December, but the public only found out about it in April. A nurse was also charged with manslaughter.

Ndege, a longtime community organizer, Brittany Battle, a professor at Wake Forest University, Kim Porter and other organizers planned to say a few words in front of the jail, enumerating a list of demands for transparency in the Neville case.

It was during a march around the facility that Winston-Salem police in a buggy warned protesters three times to stay off the street, then drove protesters towards the sidewalk on Chestnut Street. When Battle stepped into the street, she was apprehended and handcuffed (around 1:09 in the video), followed shortly thereafter by transit activist Phillip Summers, then Porter, then Ndege.

A fifth protestor, Ricky Crawford-Rowell, was also arrested after leaving the scene as soon as the police showed up.

The Winston-Salem Police Department issued a warning on July 2 that anyone breaking a law during a protest — specifically “blocking of major thoroughfares and intersections, and the disruption of numerous businesses” — would be subject to arrest.

Protesters waited outside the magistrate’s office for the four to be released. We spoke with Ndege and others afterwards.