N.C. judge accused of nearly hitting protester with SUV

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A woman on Friday formally accused a North Carolina appeals court judge of nearly striking Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Fayetteville last month with an SUV.

A criminal court summons orders Court of Appeals Judge John Tyson to appear in a courtroom next month to answer a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, The Fayetteville Observer reported.

Myah Warren said she gave a magistrate a statement about what happened on May 7 during a Fayetteville Activist Movement demonstration against fatal police shootings. Warren said previously that she and another protester had to jump out of the way to avoid Tyson’s vehicle. Warren also said she was holding a Black Lives Matter sign.

“It caused me to literally have to jump out of the way to avoid being hit,” Warren said, according to The News & Observer. “He was going so fast he jumped up on the curb.”

Warren received a “court witness information” document that tells her to appear in court. Tyson is listed as the defendant, the Fayetteville newspaper said.

An emergency dispatcher received a call about protesters in the roadway near the Market House, according to a Fayetteville Police Department document.

Tyson didn’t return a phone message left at his Court of Appeals office late Friday. He didn’t immediately respond to a social media message seeking comment.

Tyson told the newspaper earlier this week he wouldn’t make a statement but would rely on information from 911 logs. He said he made a call after he went around the Market House with a car beside him.

“They were in the roadway,” he said. “I pulled in front of my building and made the call.”

Tyson, a registered Republican, served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals from 2001 through 2008, then returned to the court in early 2015. His current term ends next year.