IFN Staff
Statesville City Councilwoman Doris Allison said she will not be intimidated by what her campaign called “a brazen act of intimidation and hatred directed at Councilwoman Allison and the residents she represents.”
The Statesville Police Department and FBI opened an investigation on Monday after a doll was found hanging from a street sign above one of Allison’s campaign signs at the intersection of Wilson Lee Boulevard and Fayetteville Avenue.
“This hateful stunt was meant to silence us,” Allison said in a news release. “Instead, it has united us. Together, we will demand accountability, support the victims, and demonstrate the resilience of our Ward.”
Allison is running for re-election in Ward 3 in the November election.
The Allison campaign announced plans to hold a news conference on Monday morning to address “the ongoing investigation into a hate crime.”
Meanwhile, local and state civil rights organizations have welcomed the investigation by the SPD and FBI.
“We live in a difficult time in America,” Statesville Branch NAACP President Todd Scott said in a statement. “We’re asking for clear heads and to let the Statesville Police and FBI do their jobs. Praying for everyone’s safety.”
The North Carolina chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NC), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also welcomed law enforcement efforts related to the incident.
“We strongly condemn this apparently bias-motivated act, which evokes America’s painful history of racial terror targeting Black political leaders” CAIR-NC Representative Al Rieder said in a statement. “This disturbing incident reflects the broader rise in hate-fueled political rhetoric and acts of racial intimidation targeting marginalized communities nationwide.
“We welcome the FBI’s investigation and urge a thorough probe to identify and hold accountable those responsible,” Reider added. “There must be zero tolerance for racist intimidation in our democratic process.”
