Posted on 07/04/2017 5:14:24 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
RICHMOND COUNTY, N.C. - Signs still advertise the annual Independence Day celebration in downtown Hamlet, but Monday, a day before the festivities, city leaders abruptly canceled them.
Fourth of July fun that typically packs the downtown streets of Hamlet every year with families won't happen this year.
“It kind of surprises me to see they shut an event like this down,” Harrison Davis said.
The reason for the abrupt decision to cancel the festivities and fireworks show is the threat of gang violence.
“Yeah, it's upsetting, but if you think about it, there's a lot of harmless people out here and you got a lot of people that's got families,” Cody Locklear said.
Hamlet Police Chief Scott Waters said officers received credible threats from multiple people over the weekend threatening violence at the celebration.
“When it comes to public safety, why take the chance of having someone innocent to get hurt?” Waters said.
City leaders said that canceling the Fourth of July celebration upsets a lot of people, but they don't want to risk violence.
"Those risks are not worth taking for the lives of innocent citizens and visitors to our city.”
Investigators determined the threats weren't toward police or spectators but were about gang-retaliation for last week's murder of Tierrell Martin outside a Hamlet convenience store.
Hamlet is one of only two places that display fireworks in Richmond County on the Fourth of July, and the festivity draws thousands.
Hamlet City Manager Jonathan Blanton said officials discussed alternatives but decided it was best to cancel the annual event.
The cancellation was “a very devastating and difficult decision that we did not haphazardly rush into this morning,” Blanton said.
The police chief said his officers are meeting and forming a gang task force with law enforcement across the county.
Happy 4th!
Alas! Poor Hamlet. I knew him, Horatio!
Giving in to terrorists.
Good plan.
I used to go to Hamlet several times a year on business.
The taxpayers there must be delighted with the way their elected officials are performing.
The nice people of Hamlet are welcome to come to Lake Park. We’re having a parade of kids on bicycles, pets in wagons, etc., and the swim team will be selling hamburgers and hot dogs.
If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all...
I’ll bet liberals madethe discision.....
Nothing celebrates FREEDOM quite like being told by your town leaders to hide in your houses on Independence day.
So ask the gov to deploy some National Guard.
Gang bangers 1. City backbone 0.
Honestly! When I read this I could only think of what our forebears would do in such times. My guess is that a whole lot of “deputies” would be lining the streets.
One day we are going to read about such goings on in a town and how the town “took matters into their own hands” (and in a big way), seeing that the “law” could not/would not protect them.
[The nice people of Hamlet are welcome to come to Lake Park. We’re having a parade of kids on bicycles, pets in wagons, etc., and the swim team will be selling hamburgers and hot dogs.]
Americana.
Some of my sons will be carrying the U.S. and North Carolina flags (borrowed from the Town Council chamber) at the head of the line.
Anti-American city council - 1, patriotic Americans-0
This has ZERO to do with gang threats and everything to do with lefties staging another “we hate Trump” display. They cannot help themselves. It’s what they do. Of course, they’d never just tell the truth cuz they’d be run out of town on a rail so they blame the gangs and “keeping our citizens safe”. Win win for them, right?
All politics is local folks. This is where it starts.
Where is the militia in NC?
They decided not to be.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.