‘I Could Be Dead!’: North Carolina Deputy Pepper-Sprays, Punches Black Man After He Tries to Re-enter a Courtroom, and Now, He’s Hitting Back
A Black truck driver was entering a courtroom in North Carolina when a sheriff’s deputy pepper-sprayed him and ordered him to leave.
Don Long, 38, was walking away, rubbing his eyes, when the deputy approached him from behind and punched him in the back of the head.
Long swung back at Northampton County Sheriff’s Deputy Gregory Colson, and the two exchanged punches before the deputy backed away as Long continued swinging.
According to surveillance video circulating on social media, two more deputies arrived, and Long allowed them to handcuff him.
On Thursday, Long and his attorneys, Harry Daniels and Gerald Griggs, filed a lawsuit against Northampton County and its sheriff’s office.
Deputy Accused of Escalating Courthouse Encounter Into Violent Attack
The incident took place on Jan. 22 inside the Northampton County Courthouse in Jackson, but the attorneys posted the video on June 5.
In the video description, Griggs said a Northampton County sheriff’s deputy needlessly assaulted Long, causing permanent eye damage and vision impairment.
“Deputy Gregory Colson sprayed pepper spray directly into his eyes at close range after Long simply inquired whether he could enter a courtroom,” Griggs stated.
Court records show prosecutors never charged Long in connection with the incident. Daniels said Colson no longer works at the sheriff’s office.
“He was either fired or forced to resign,” Daniels said in a telephone interview with Atlanta Black Star.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Northampton County Sheriff Jack E. Smith, but he has not yet responded.
The lawsuit states the incident caused permanent eye damage that affected Long’s ability to work as a commercial truck driver. It also alleges deputies handcuffed him, held him in a courthouse cell for 45 minutes, then transported him to a hospital before releasing him without filing any charges.
Truck Driver Claims Earlier Case Was Built on Lies and False Accusations
Long has posted about the incident on his Facebook page and expressed gratitude that cameras captured the encounter on video, which is posted below.
Long entered the courthouse that morning to attend a hearing related to a separate incident in which authorities accused him of threatening two white women in August 2025.
The lawsuit states that Long was already in the courtroom to attend his hearing when a deputy ordered him to take his phone to his car, which he did. But when he tried to reenter the courtroom, he was pepper-sprayed and punched by Colson.
The hearing was over a case in which he was also accused of assaulting one of the women by “lunging at her with a steel cup” and threatening to beat her with it.
According to court documents, he also allegedly told the woman, “I will kill both of your b_tch asses.”
‘Falsifying Police Reports’
Court records do not provide additional details about that incident, but Long described it on his Facebook page on Jan. 21, the day before the hearing.
“Got court tomorrow, y’all pray for me!” he posted.
Long said the incident began inside a Speedway convenience store when a man named Danny Bolton Jr. called him a racial slur.
He accused two women, Rebecca Gibson and Tammy Lynn McGaha, who apparently worked there, of shoving him out of the store while defending Bolton.
He said he left, and officers later pulled him over but did not arrest him.
Long accused the women of lying about the alleged assault and threats and said he was looking forward to the truth coming out in court.
“See you ladies in court tomorrow and I hope you guys not trying to drop nothing cause I want the whole truth to come out and see yall hit with perjury and falsifying police reports,” he wrote.
However, the court rescheduled the hearing to March 5, when prosecutors agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor charges after six months if the defendant had no contact with the alleged victims.
His next hearing in that case is scheduled for Sept. 10, when the court will decide whether to dismiss the three misdemeanor charges.
“It’s scary knowing I could be dead and it would have been covered up or justified in their eyes!” he wrote on Facebook on January 24, two days after the incident.
“It’s scary, I could be in a cell and facing damn near life in prison for assault or attempted murder on a government official.”