Fmr. deputy due in court for alleged assault near Carteret Co. archaeological site

CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - A former Onslow County deputy is due in court this morning after he was charged with assaulting a Native American woman at a Carteret County Native American archaeological site last summer.

Court records show James De La O Jr will be in a court hearing at 9 a.m. at the Carteret County Courthouse.

De La O’s lawyer told WITN that he and his client are prepared to give their side of the story in court and do not have additional comments at this time.

Outside the Carteret County courthouse yesterday, civil rights activist John Barnett and the family of the alleged assault victim Jane Jacob spoke out for justice in last July’s confrontation.

In 2024, former Onslow County deputy James De La O Jr was charged with communicating threats, assaulting a woman, and false police report during a dispute at the Native American archaeological discovery at the Bridge View neighborhood in Cedar Point.

An arrest warrant obtained by WITN at the time revealed that De La O, a resident of Bridge View assaulted a woman by body slamming her to the ground and verbally threatening two people after the woman and others were present to pay respect to the archeological site.

Jacobs is speaking out and is seeking justice for herself, as well as other Native Americans and the site.

“I’ve already had two back surgeries, I have slip disks in my neck, I am so screwed right now. I can’t brush my hair with my left hand because of what this man did to me,” says Jacob.

“I hope that there’s a way that we can take the rest of that land and that the land gets left alone because it is the most sacred site in the state for us [Native Americans] and for y’all. That’s a huge part of history that shouldn’t be built over because somebody wants a fancy house on the water,” says Jacob.

Early Tuesday morning, civil rights activist John Barnett with True Healing Under God joined Jacob and her uncle outside the Carteret County courthouse in a “court patrol” calling for the district attorney to upgrade De La O’s charges to the fullest for Wednesday’s court hearing and bring more awareness to discrimination against Native Americans that Jacob and her family say they faced.

“I realized in America that not only do blacks in this country face racism but Hispanics face racism, and now I see that Indians. I drove here for five hours to fight for them,” says Barnett.

Jacob’s uncle recalls what he felt when he witnessed his niece thrown to the ground.

“It made a lasting effect and to who I say that, because there are so many good people in this country. There really is but you know, that day, we witnessed hatred first and foremost,” says Bob Lowery.

WITN reached out to Scott Thomas, who is the District Attorney overseeing the court case, but we have not gotten a response.