A “racially charged incident” in Carrboro this last weekend has left a popular coffee and ice cream shop temporarily closed and community members asking more from the police department.
Present Day on Main shared on social media Tuesday, April 5, they would be closing indefinitely in part to the local police’s response to an alleged assault.
Owners Soteria Shepperson and Sophie Suberman said during a private event booked at their shop on Sunday, April 3, a woman entered the shop to distribute campaign materials. The woman, who is white, was asked to leave because of the ongoing event. Shepperson and Suberman, who spoke during the public comment period of the Carrboro Town Council meeting on Tuesday, said the woman continued to remain inside their business and grew increasingly hostile to Shepperson and another Black patron attempting to intervene.
“As we are trying to get her out of the space,” Shepperson said, “she decides she is going to assault one of the Black women who was here. Then, she yells outside and says ‘I’m going to call 911.'”
Shepperson said when Carrboro Police arrived, she felt they were more sympathetic to the accused trespasser than herself and the Black patrons who experienced the incident.
In a response to requests from Chapelboro, Carrboro Police Chief Chris Atack confirmed the suspect was no longer at Present Day on Main when an officer arrived at 5:19 p.m. on Sunday. Atack shared the police department’s procedures for removing a person from a private property or business, which include recording a trespass warning or physically escorting the person away from the premises.
Without the suspect there, however, Shepperson said the responding officer spoke to the accused woman on the phone and the assault victim in-person. She told Carrboro Town Council members that she felt as if the police officer was hearing more of the suspect’s account of the incident than the victim’s, saying she believed the officer was “victim-blaming.”
Shepperson said if that is how Black and brown community members would be treated by police, she is unsure Present Day on Main will be able to maintain its mission statement of having a “welcoming culture for all.”
“I cannot in my right mind sleep at night knowing that if somebody is assaulted on my property and I call the police here and tell them what happened,” said Shepperson, “they will still take the side of a white woman. I can no longer allow the public to come on this property.”
The co-owners told the town council, and said on social media, they will use the closure to revise and review their safety protocols to meant to protect themselves, employees and patrons at the coffee shop.
“Effective immediately,” Shepperson said, “Present Day on Main is going to be shut…down until we can come to a resolution that is going to protect Black and brown people, including myself.
“There is no way,” she added, “I would’ve walked and got in my Audi and left had I assaulted a white woman — whether it was on my property or not.”
Atack told Chapelboro the responding Carrboro police officer heard differing accounts from the assault victim and the suspect on the phone. The police chief said no other comments could be made at this time, as the officer’s response to the incident is under review.
Shepperson also said during Tuesday’s public comment period that the assault victim went to Hillsborough to file the simple assault charge. She, as well as Suberman, are listed in the Carrboro Police report among “others involved,” as well as 54-year-old Marla Benton. Atack confirmed to Chapelboro the responding officer referred the misdemeanor charge be filed with the county magistrate because the alleged assault happened outside of the police’s presence and the suspect was no longer on-scene.
Carrboro Town Council candidate Aja Kelleher spoke with Chapelboro and confirmed the accused trespasser and assaulter, Benton, was a volunteer for her campaign. She said she does not personally know Benton and was not present for the canvassing in Carrboro on Sunday.
Kelleher also issued public support for Present Day on Main on her candidate social media pages on Wednesday.
Carrboro Mayor Damon Seils spoke with 97.9 The Hill on Thursday to share his thoughts on the town’s ongoing efforts to improve police relations with the community, and his reaction to Shepperson and Suberman’s comments.
“It’s distressing to hear about their experience,” the mayor said, “and our key objective has to always be doing what we can to keep everyone in our community safe and feeling like this is a place where we all belong. When we’re not doing that, we know we need to look at making it better for the next time.”
Seils said Carrboro town staff were in touch with the Present Day on Main owners to learn more about Sunday’s incident and to hear their needs regarding safety and infrastructure. He also echoed that Carrboro Police are reviewing the response of one of its officers.
“I know that our police department leadership is committed to the same goals that we’ve been expressing on the council for a long time now,” Seils said, “which is looking at what it means in the broad sense to think about community safety for everyone. That means taking on questions about race and racism seriously as they come up and doing better every time.”
Present Day on Main shared an update on Saturday with the Carrboro community. The coffee shop’s website said the business hopes to reopen soon and it has launched a GoFundMe campaign.
Here is an excerpt from Shepperson and Suberman, who laid out their goals of the fundraiser:
“Our goal is to raise $25,000. We will use these monies to: 1) cover expenses related to this incident, 2) lost wages and inventory due to the shutdown, 3) purchase security gates to address the longstanding trespassing problems, 4) increase outdoor signage, 5) purchase and install security cameras, and 6) establish an endowment fund to recognize and compensate Black women in our community who serve tirelessly advocating for racial equity in our community.”
Photo via Present Day on Main.
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