Update 11 a.m.: In a message to Port City Daily, David Malachi, one of the two men arrested, denied carrying a firearm during the protest. Malachi said he had a holster but no weapon. Port City Daily is currently working to secure photo evidence of this.
WILMINGTON — Two of the four men who allegedly brought firearms to last Sunday’s protest in downtown Wilmington have been arrested; the other two, about whom there is only limited information, are still at-large.
The presence of the armed men was cited by District Attorney Ben David as forcing the hand of New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who used tear-gas and other ‘less-lethal’ weapons to disperse the crowd on the evening of Sunday, May 31.
During a press conference on Tuesday, June 2, David told reporters that law enforcement — including federal agencies, Brunswick and New Hanover county Sheriff’s Offices, and the Wilmington Police Department — had ‘developed intelligence’ concerning four armed men at the protest. David declined to offer details on how this intelligence was gathered, noting that he did not want to compromise the efficacy of law enforcement surveillance methods.
David said that, after deputies fired tear gas, the four men could not be located and apprehended.
Ironically, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (NHCS) actually had arrested one of the four gunmen on Sunday night — but hadn’t realized it. Twenty-nine-year-old Edward James Timothy Joynt was one of ten protestors arrested that night; Joynt was charged with failure to disperse on command and inciting a riot and was later released.
Joynt was arrested again on Tuesday afternoon around 1:30 p.m. by NHCSO and charged under the state statute prohibiting firearms on government-owned property during a public gathering, a misdemeanor in North Carolina. According to the warrant for Joynt’s arrest, he was carrying a 9mm pistol with an extended magazine at the protest.
NHCSO also arrested 24-year-old David Tyshaun Malachi on Tuesday around 9:45 p.m, who was also charged under NCGS § 14-277.2. According to the warrant for Malachi, he was concealing a small, dark-colored firearm inside his waistband.
According to NHCSO, there is only limited information about the other suspects.
One was spotted riding a motorcycle on North Third Street near the protest. Law enforcement did not get a plate number, and could only identify the suspect as having a black helmet. The other was a black male, wearing a black shirt and a gold chain.
Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at ben@localvoicemedia.com, @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001
