Armed Man Arrested At Charlotte Polling Site: CMPD

CHARLOTTE, NC — A man with a legally unconcealed handgun strapped to his hip was arrested outside a Charlotte polling site Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

The incident highlights anxiety among voters, some of whom have reported sporadic incidents of intimidation on the day officially wrapping up a political season of highly charged rhetoric.

Around 10:30 a.m., Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department received a call for service after some voters felt intimidated by the man — identified as Justin Dunn, 36 — as he stood with a gun outside the Oasis Shrine Temple poll site on Doug Mayes Place.

A poll watcher at the location also made a complaint to ProPublica's Electionland, which is taking tips about voting problems. "A man is walking around near the polling site with a gun in a holster," the complaint said.

Shortly after the incident was reported, a precinct manager with the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections confirmed the incident to Patch, saying the man arrived with the handgun and was allowed to cast his vote. Dunn then called the Board of Elections office himself to complain after the gun provoked reaction from others at the location.

"He was complaining that people were hollering at him as he was leaving," Precinct Manager Mike Crutch said.

According to a police report, Dunn was legally carrying the unconcealed gun and continued to loiter at the poll site, which some voters found intimidating.

"Dunn was asked to leave the property by an official presiding over the precinct location in front of officer and voluntarily left without further issues," CMPD said. The election official also banned Dunn from returning.

About two hours later, however, he did just that, CMPD said.

"At 12:40 p.m., CMPD received an additional call for service advising that Dunn had returned to the property," police said. He was arrested and charged with second-degree trespassing.

"The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is committed to protecting the right of our community members to engage in safe, secure and unimpeded access to voting sites," CMPD said.

The incident was not the only one reported Election Day. Elsewhere in the state, tensions mounted at a poll site in Polk County, North Carolina, where a protester was dressed in a Trump suit and mask with a large campaign flag emblazoned with guns, which some voters found intimidating. In Wake County, a truck with a large campaign flag reportedly drove through a parking lot outside the 50-foot buffer zone at the poll site, with the driver aggressively honking the horn, witnesses said. At a poll site in Cabarrus County, a man with graphic anti-abortion, pro-life signs reportedly screamed at voters.

Numerous complaints also rolled in regarding the lack of curbside voting for the disabled. Every polling site in the state is required to offer curbside voting; however, it has not been uniformly accessible due to a variety of reasons such as lack of personnel, signage or planning.

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