Two men — who go by the names of Mauricelm-Lei Millere and Na’Jee Shaka Muhammad — traveled to Charlotte to hold a press conference last Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7), they said, to bring attention to the story of Tanisha Williams.

The men said they had been in communication with members of Williams’ family and the family’s lawyer William H. Harding. During the press conference they told reporters it was Harding who “advised” them to come to Charlotte in the first place.

“He was instrumental in getting us down here,” said Millere. “Then, he backed out at the last minute.”

Millere said he believes Harding backed out because he was being intimidated.

“The lawyer said from his own mouth that he was afraid,” said Millere. “We spoke with him directly.”

Harding, however, completely refutes their claims, insisting he had nothing to do with Millere or Muhammad coming to Charlotte. The personal injury lawyer told Qcitymetro.com that he advised the gentlemen not to come because their cause did not support his client’s case.

“They were talking about police brutality,” he said. “That doesn’t apply to Tanisha … I’m not saying they don’t have a right to protest against that type of stuff, but don’t do it on my client’s back when their issue and cause have nothing to do with my client.”

He also refutes claims that he had been intimidated by CMPD.

“That is the furthest thing from the truth,” he said. “This is ridiculous to me.”

Robert Tufano, a spokesperson from CMPD called Millere and Muhammad’s actions shameful.

“I think people who come from out of town and tap this as some type of police brutality rally … and try to stir up our community by blaming the police for this tragic incident, I think it’s disgraceful,” he said. “This has nothing to do with police brutality in this case. It’s a tragic self-inflicted incident.”

Williams was arrested December 5 at the CitiTrends store on Freedom Drive after being accused of stealing a $14 shirt and somehow slipped into a coma while in police custody and remains unresponsive in a hospital room.

Harding insists that Williams’ condition is the result of police negligence, not brutality.

Last Saturday, Mohammed and Millere alternated standing on the sidewalk in front of the store where Williams was arrested speaking into a megaphone as shoppers walked by. The men spoke mostly about police brutality and the need for black men to stand up and protect their families from police officers.

Several of the shoppers, who were mostly African-American, walked by the two men. A handful stopped briefly to hear their message or accept the literature they were handing out about a group called The Black Liberation Institute. Other fliers distributed by the men listed their organization as the Black Liberation Militia. In an interview with Qcitymetro on Friday, Millere stated that the men were members of The Black Nationalist Network.

Shoppers who spoke with Qcitymetro said they avoided entering the CitiTrends and other stores in the plaza because they did not want to be filmed by media cameras.

According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, someone from the shopping plaza called in a noise-disturbance complaint. Two police officers responded, arriving in separate patrol cars and quietly observed the two men, who had by then moved from the sidewalk to the parking lot.

Officers said the two men had not broken any laws, unless they were using the megaphone without a permit.

The men also planned a rally for later in the day, but according to our news partner The Charlotte Observer, no one showed up.

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