Joseph McNeil, who helped spark a protest movement at a North Carolina lunch counter, dies at 83

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Joseph McNeil, one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the South, died Thursday, his university said. He was 83.

McNeil, who later became a two-star general, was one of four freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro who sat down at the local “whites only” counter on Feb. 1, 1960. The young Black men were refused service and declined to give up their seats even as the store manager and police urged them to move on.

Statements from North Carolina A&T and the family did not give his cause of death or where he died. McNeil had been living in New York.

The historically Black university said that McNeil had recent health challenges but still managed to attend the sit-in's 65th anniversary observance this year in Greensboro.

McNeil’s death means Jibreel Khazan — formerly Ezell Blair Jr. — is now the only surviving member of the four. Franklin McCain died in 2014 and David Richmond in 1990.

“We were quite serious, and the issue that we rallied behind was a very serious issue because it represented years of suffering and disrespect and humiliation,” McNeil said in a 2010 Associated Press story on the 50th anniversary of the sit-in and the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum on the site of the old Woolworth's store. "Segregation was an evil kind of thing that needed attention.”

On the sit-in's first day, the four young men stayed until the store closed. More protesters joined the next day and days following, leading to at least 1,000 by the fifth day. Within weeks, sit-ins were launched in more than 50 cities in nine states. The Woolworth’s counter in Greensboro — about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Raleigh — was desegregated within six months.

McNeil and his classmates "inspired a nation with their courageous, peaceful protest, powerfully embodying the idea that young people could change the world. His leadership and the example of the A&T Four continue to inspire our students today,” school Chancellor James Martin said in a news release. A monument to the four men sits on the A&T campus.

The Greensboro sit-in also led to the formation in Raleigh of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which became a key part of the student direct-action civil rights movement. Demonstrations between 1960 and 1965 helped pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

McNeil and the sit-in participants leave a legacy of non-violent protests that “promote equity and social justice and social change in America and throughout the world,” museum co-founder Earl Jones said Thursday.

The students decided to act when McNeil returned to school on a bus from New York — and the racial atmosphere became more and more oppressive the further south he went, according to the AP's story in 2010.

The first-day effort was meticulously planned, including the purchase of school supplies and toiletries and keeping the receipts to show the lunch counter was the only portion of the store where racial segregation still prevailed.

Joseph A. McNeil grew up in coastal Wilmington and was an ROTC member at A&T. He retired as a two-star major general from the Air Force Reserves in 2001 and also worked as an investment banker. McNeil is honored in Wilmington with an historical marker on a street segment named for him. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris sat at a section of the lunch counter that remains intact within the museum in 2021. Another portion is at the Smithsonian.

McNeil's family said a tribute to honor his life will be announced separately.

McNeil's "legacy is a testament to the power of courage and conviction,” his son, Joseph McNeil Jr., said in the family's statement. “His impact on the civil rights movement and his service to the nation will never be forgotten.”

FILE - From left: Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan, and Franklin McCain greet each other during an opening of a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, Jan. 14, 1995. (AP Photo/Tyler Mallory, File)

FILE - The four black men who were once denied service at the Woolworth store in Greensboro, N.C. take their places at the same lunch counter to recreate their sit-in on Feb. 2, 1990. The men are, from left, Joseph McNeil, Jibreal Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, and David Richmond. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE - Joseph McNeil, left, stands next to Ezell Blair, Jr., center, student leader in the original lunch counter sit-down demonstration, discussed legal aspects of anti-segregation with Dr. George C. Simkins, right, Greensboro dentist and local NAACP leader, in Greensboro, N.C., April 20, 1960. (News & Record via AP, File)

FILE - Joseph McNeil speaks during a AFL-CIO conference in Greensboro, N.C., Jan. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Lynn Hey, File)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.

Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges," according to the nation's electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.

The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls were expected to close at 4 p.m., but voting was extended one hour until 5 p.m. local time. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.

In the morning, impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.

“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.

Wine, the candidate, alleged electoral fraud, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming that there was “ballot stuffing.”

Wine wrote in a post on X that his party's leaders had been arrested. “Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” the post said.

Museveni told journalists he was notified that biometric machines weren't working at some stations and that he supported the electoral body's decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on allegations of fraud.

Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.

Nganda said the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support. "It’s going to be chaos,” he said.

Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.

Emmanuel Tusiime, a young man who was among dozens prevented from entering a polling station in Kampala past closing time said the officials had prevented him from participating.

“My vote has not been counted, and, as you can see, I am not alone," he said he was left feeling “very disappointed.”

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.

The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and possible vote tampering.

Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.

There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.

Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.

Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.

“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.

The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.

“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."

Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”

Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.

Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)