A white North Carolina man is facing misdemeanor charges after assaulting a white family over a Black Lives Matter sign last week.
Nova Tempest, 19, was driving 26-year-old sibling Olivia Pugh and their 17-year-old brother to a dentist’s appointment on Dec. 3 when 55-year-old Rod Steven Sturdy of Lewisville began to drive in an aggressive faction that targeted the family, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.
Police reports describe an encounter that began when Sturdy began to alternate between tailgating the vehicle and cutting the family off before slamming on his brakes in front of them.
The family had a Black Lives Matter sign and a sign that said “Prosecute the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor” showing in the back window of the car.
Sturdy continued to trail the family for several blocks until Tempest turned into the parking lot of the dentist’s office. Sturdy used his vehicle to block the family in. He then got out of his car and approached the back seat of the family’s car, where Tempest’s and Pugh’s teenage brother was sitting.
According to the family’s attorney Helen Parsonage, Sturdy began hitting the teen in the face. When Pugh stepped in, Sturdy punched Pugh in the face two times.
Emergency services were called to treat the boy for non-life threatening injuries. The family reports he is recovering from an orbital fracture under his left eye.
Sturdy pointed at the signs on the back window of the car and used the N-word before he left the scene and was tracked by his last plate number. He has been charged with simple assault and assault on a female, according to arrest records.
When the Winston-Salem Journal asked Sturdy on Dec. 8 if he denied the allegations, he said, “I’m going to court, and you can be there.”
Parsonage said the family was shaken up by the incident.
“It was the hatred and the aggression that has left them a little bit shaken,” she said. “It’s amazing to me. I can’t understand or relate that anyone would feel the need to do this, feel compelled.”
Sheriff F. Kimbrough, Jr addressed the incident Wednesday, saying, “We will investigate this matter in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Office to make sure justice is served. Any assault on anyone is an assault on all of us and we at the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office will have zero tolerance for that.”
Parsonage believes the demeanor charges against Sturdy are not enough, and that he should be charged assault inflicting serious injury for his attacks on the teenager. Parsonage also argued that North Carolina’s Hate Crime law should be applied, making Sturdy’s alleged assaults felonies.
“We want to burst their bubble of privilege being that this happens,” said Pugh, who wants people to understand that hate crimes occur in Forsyth County. “Maybe listen to people of color to whom it happens all the time.”
The sheriff’s office has not said whether additional charges will be brought against Sturdy in this case.
