{"id":4264,"date":"2026-07-09T21:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T21:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4264"},"modified":"2026-07-09T21:36:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T21:36:04","slug":"charges-upgraded-for-man-accused-of-injuring-lgbtq-organizer-at-cary-pride-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4264","title":{"rendered":"Charges upgraded for man accused of injuring LGBTQ+ organizer at Cary Pride event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article280707640.html\">Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A Cary man who allegedly struck a local LGBTQ+ organizer with a flagpole while shouting homophobic slurs is now facing upgraded charges.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4262\">\u2018Outer Banks\u2019 show returns to Netflix this summer. Was it filmed in NC?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Justin Keith Batchelor Jr., 25, is charged with assault on a female, a Class A1 misdemeanor, in the June 13 incident, court records show. Batchelor had previously been cited for simple assault, a Class 2 misdemeanor, The News &amp; Observer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/local\/crime\/article316161226.html\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">reported last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Batchelor is accused of striking Sara Buxton, owner of The Night Market Company, with a PVC flagpole bearing an American flag at the Alphabet Soup Pride Market in Downtown Cary Park, The N&amp;O reported. Buxton posted an Instagram video showing her black eye and sharing her account of what took place last month. She called for tougher charges against her alleged attacker.<\/p>\n<p>Buxton said the market was a \u201cgreat event\u201d until a shirtless \u201cagitator\u201d began to run through the market with an American flag on a pole, according to the video. When Buxton asked him to put a shirt on, Batchelor allegedly hit her in the face and called her slurs.<\/p>\n<p>Helicia Chiang, who witnessed the incident, told The N&amp;O last month Batchelor began \u201cscreaming profanities\u201d and a threat about a firearm in the moments after the attack before running away from the scene.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cQueer-owned businesses need your support always, not just during Pride month,\u201d Buxton wrote in the video\u2019s caption. \u201cThrowing Pride events shouldn\u2019t involve physical harm and violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Batchelor was arrested Wednesday and remains in jail without bail. He was already out on an unsecured bail bond after being arrested July 4 for allegedly trespassing onto a bridge at Interstate 40 and Harrison Avenue, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4260\">An old Cary auto shop will be revived as a new restaurant hot spot. Peek inside<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The change in charges slightly alters the potential sentence Batchelor could face, if convicted. North Carolina sentencing charts show a Class 2 misdemeanor, the classification for simple assault, carries a minimum of a day in jail and a maximum of 60 days in jail for someone with Batchelor\u2019s prior conviction record.<\/p>\n<p>The more stringent charge of a Class A1 misdemeanor, the classification for assault on a female, carries a minimum of a day in jail and a maximum of 30 days in jail.<\/p>\n<p>Buxton had previously called for additional  charges against Batchelor, describing her struggles to be in large crowds and anxiety after the assault, The N&amp;O previously reported. She hadn\u2019t replied to The N&amp;O\u2019s request for comment at the time of publication.<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina statute doesn\u2019t recognize hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told The N&amp;O last month that federal law  covers those categories, but would require a federal complaint from the victim to be elevated to federal court.<\/p>\n<p>Batchelor has previously been charged with assault. He was arrested July 17, 2025, in Cary after allegedly getting out of his car in the middle of the road and pushing another man, according to court documents. But the case was dismissed in January after police and the victim didn\u2019t come to court, court records indicate.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4258\">More storms possible in the Triangle after rain dumps inches during drought<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Cary man was charged with assault on a female after allegedly striking an organizer with a flagpole at the Alphabet Soup Pride Market in Downtown Cary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Charges upgraded for man accused of injuring LGBTQ+ organizer at Cary Pride event - 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