A charge of pointing a firearm has been dropped against a woman who drew a weapon during an EFF protest outside a Clicks store at a shopping centre in Port Elizabeth.
Diane Attwell, 52, got involved in a verbal altercation during the protest against a controversial hair advert, subsequently withdrawn by the health and beauty retailer, at Walmer Park Shopping Centre in September.
The incident was captured on video and went viral on social media. Attwell was due to appear in the Port Elizabeth magistrate’s court on Friday.
Algoa FM radio reported that her attorney, Alwyn Griebenow, had made representations to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) and the charges were subsequently withdrawn on Friday.
HeraldLIVE reported at the time of the incident that as tempers flared inside the shopping centre, a woman could be heard in the video clip shouting, “Go back to Europe!”
While a grey-haired woman was escorted away from the protesters by security guards, another person shouted, “Take out your gun! Take out your gun!"”
The grey-haired woman promptly produced what appeared to be a hand gun and pointed it directly at the protesters who continued to shout “Shoot! Shoot!”
Griebenow told Algoa FM that after viewing the footage, they felt no criminal offence had taken place.
TimesLIVE
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