Activist arrested after protest against former Rock Hill officer’s acquittal

ROCK HILL, S.C. — A woman was arrested Thursday night after a group protested the not guilty verdict of a former Rock Hill police officer.

Rock Hill police said officers were notified of an “assembly” on Tall Grass Bluff in The Parks neighborhood and responded to the call just before 6 p.m.

The protest was against the acquittal of Officer Moreno, who was charged with assault and battery in an arrest last summer but was found not guilty Wednesday night.

According to police, officers had previously been in the same area at 1 a.m. Thursday (Wednesday night) because the same group of people had gathered in the same area. At that time, police said they told the group how to peacefully assemble without any violations of laws or city ordinances.

After that incident, officers returned to the same location Thursday evening. They said they found that same group, whose members included Natasha Sade McNeil, 33, of Rock Hill. Police said they saw McNeil using a megaphone with an audible siren and they warned her about Rock Hill’s noise ordinance a second time.

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After her warning, police said McNeil stepped into a yard saying she would continue to use the megaphone and the sound would be louder than the siren. Police said she began singing through the megaphone, amplifying the noise, which violated Rock Hill’s noise ordinance.

Police arrested McNeil and took her into custody at the Rock Hill jail.

McNeil is a member of the group Moms Against Racism.

(WATCH BELOW: Trial heads to jury for former Rock Hill officer charged after controversial arrest)

Trial heads to jury for former Rock Hill officer charged after controversial arrest

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