North Carolina Senate passes bill in favor of tougher riot punishments

OAN Geraldyn Berry
UPDATED 10:54 AM – Friday, March 10, 2023

On Monday, a North Carolina Senate committee approved a bill that would toughen the penalties for those who take part in violent protests. This is in response to the violent protests that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020.

The bill House Bill 40The, works to ensure that property owners, law enforcers, and peaceful protestors are safe from violence during disturbances, while also upholding their First Amendment Rights.

Many legislators pointed to the fact that the current laws didn’t deter the June 2020 looting and rioting in downtown Raleigh.

The Senate committee has now approved the bill. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D-N.C.), will need to sign it.

Jordan Monaghan, spokesperson for the governor, has said that Cooper “has worked to increase public safety and protect constitutional rights, and he will review this legislation.”

It is worth noting that in 2021, the Democrat governor had vetoed a comparable bill that had been passed through a GOP-controlled General Assembly. Now, in order for Cooper’s veto to be overruled, despite Republicans gaining enough seat in November, one House Democrat was required to join the combined GOP majority.

Monaghan stated that Cooper vetoed this bill in 2021. He considered it unacceptable. “unnecessary” And he said that it was “intended to intimidate and deter people from exercising their constitutional rights to peacefully protest.”

Six House Democrats supported the initiative last month. One of them was Tim Moore, the state House Speaker (R-S.C.), who served as principal sponsor.

“We need to give our law enforcement the tools that they need so that when someone goes out and destroys property and engages in violence that they can be held accountable,” Moore stated.

The Senate approved the legislation on Thursday by a vote of 27-16. Senator Mary Wills Bode (D-S.C.) was the only Democrat to vote in favor.

Opponents of the bill claim that it unfairly targets Black Lives Matter demonstrators, and marginalized groups, by trying to instill fear. The bill contained a clause that allowed property owners to sue others who violated it for three times the actual damage they suffered plus court costs and legal fees.

“To me, that reads like an incentive to sue, to get a bonus and it adds to the problems of this bill,” Senator Natasha Marcus (D-S.C.) said.

Moore responded by saying that people should think twice before taking action, especially when it involves property of others.

“I hope it’s a chilling effect on somebody thinking they can go out and destroy somebody’s else’s property,” He stated. “I hope someone actually does think, ‘Hmm, I may not only go to jail for this but if I go destroy someone’s property … I’m not only going to be on the hook for the damage I did but for a punitive side.'”