Considering charges

It wasn’t worth it, Warren said. If the building were occupied and lives were at risk, he said, he would have made a different call. But in this case, he contended, being judicious was the better option.

“If we put officers in their face, would we have presented the immediate threat?” he said. “Listen, I know there’s been a lot of criticism. But I think there would be a lot more criticism here, quite honestly, if we forced the confrontation and had to use lethal force and gotten cops hurt.

“I stand by the decision we made that day. It was the right one.”

Though no arrests made on the night of the protest, criminal charges could be filed by way of an arrest warrant later.

“We’re looking at all options,” Warren said. “It’s still being investigated, I’ll just leave it at that.”

He declined to say if other agencies are involved in the investigation.

Warren also defended his decision not to meet with Dunn the day before the protest to negotiate how things would go.

That was unlike a protest three years ago, when Newport News Police

Chief Steve Drew met with Dunn ahead of time to ease tensions. Drew provided Dunn’s group of about 20 men with a public address system. The two men even shook hands and shared a ceremonial drink to start the protest — Dunn with a chocolate milk and Drew with a Mountain Dew.

But Warren said the situations were different. While the Newport News case stemmed from Dunn’s trespassing arrest, the Gloucester case arose from the arrests of four men “who have nothing to do with him,” the sheriff said. As such, Warren said, it would be improper to discuss the case with him.