‘Atta Boy Roy’—I Don’t Think So!

Career politician Roy Cooper is now vying for a seat in the federal Senate, so let's take a quick look at his record.

While serving as North Carolina's chief legal officer in 2014, Democrat Roy Cooper decided not to enforce North Carolina's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Think about this. North Carolina's constitution defined marriage as consisting of a union of one man and one woman, yet Cooper broke the law as written in his state's constitution and just decided not to enforce (as his job dictated) state law. Phil Berger, state senate leader at the time stated, "North Carolinians overwhelmingly voted to put the marriage amendment into our state constitution and expect their attorney general to uphold his oath of office by defending that constitution." Even President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law in 1996 declaring that "no state shall be required to recognize a same-gender marriage performed in another state," defining marriage as only between a man and a woman for the purposes of federal law.

What do you think Cooper would do in Washington, D.C. with the Constitution of the United States? Would he defend the U.S. Constitution or just flippantly decide when or if he was going to uphold his oath of office?  Do these actions deserve an "atta boy Roy"?  I don't think so.

After questionably winning a gubernatorial election against Republican Pat McCrory in 2016, Cooper arrested citizens for stepping on the sidewalk in front of the executive mansion as they were (legitimately) peacefully protesting Cooper to reopen North Carolina during the pandemic. On April 14, 2020, while the group ReOpen NC assembled, Raleigh police tweeted, "Protesting is not an essential activity." U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) blasted the tweet and backed ReOpen NC's right to protest. One ReOpen NC protestor, Monica Ussery, had to battle her arrest charges for three years in court.

In sharp contrast, in May of 2020, Cooper fled from Black Lives Matter protestors as they violently rioted and destroyed property in Raleigh, NC. It is unclear how long Cooper and his family were hidden. Upon returning to the governor's mansion, Cooper was seen marching with the rioters with his fist raised in solidarity with them. Cooper is quoted as saying, "We cannot focus so much on property damage that we forget why people are in the streets in the first place." Republican state house speaker Tim Moore filmed the chaos from his apartment in Raleigh, and called on Cooper to deploy the National Guard; Cooper did not do so until after midnight, and by then, the riots had spread beyond downtown. Cooper even met with BLM protest groups like Living Ultra-Violet, led by Conrad James. James has a criminal record going back to 2012, including possession of drugs, trespassing, resisting arrest, injury to property, and filing false police reports.

Former state lawmaker Berger stated that Cooper's response to the violent BLM riots was a "failure of leadership," and criticized Cooper's uneven handling of the BLM and ReOpen NC protests. Berger stated,

If you're a tattoo artist trying to reopen your business, you'll be arrested in front of a TV camera as a 'show of force.' But if you burn that tattoo parlor to the ground, you'll face no consequence.

The BLM riots cost North Carolina millions of dollars. The Associated Press reported that around $2.2 million was spent on law enforcement alone, not counting the property damage.

Does Cooper's participation in destructive riots award him an "atta boy Roy"? I don't think so.

While one would think this would be enough, next we discover that Democrat Roy Cooper released 3,500 "hardened criminals out of North Carolina prisons, including murders and rapists, assaults, and really, truly unleashed these people back on the American people," according to Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael Whatley. Whatley stated,

The fact that he [Cooper] released 51 people who were serving life sentences at the time, the fact that he released hundreds of violent criminals, rapists, pedophiles. I mean it was, it was really a horrific list of people that he released at the time… You know, the number one function of any government is to protect its citizens, and Roy Cooper was an abject failure at that.

Apparently, Cooper was being sued by the ACLU and the NAACP for having people in prison during the COVID pandemic. To capitulate to the demands of these organizations, Cooper released inmates because he was concerned they might get sick. Think about that—3,500 inmates were released so they would not get sick. When Cooper did this, Cooper sealed the list of names to conceal it from North Carolinians, assuring everyone that no violent criminals were released. However, the North Carolina legislature obtained the list, which revealed that not only were there violent criminals on the list, but over 50 were serving life sentences.

Roy Cooper owes the people of North Carolina an explanation.  Not just why did he sign off on this, you know, instead of fight it. …How did those prisoners get picked? …How do you explain that these people were released just because of COVID?

Let's not forget that the reason that Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska was murdered on a North Carolina commuter train was because Cooper's soft-on-crime policies allowed DeCarlos Brown, Jr. out of jail, again. Brown had been arrested and released more than a dozen times, while Cooper was governor.

Do we need a politician in Washington, D.C. who on a whim will violate his oath of office and disregard the Constitution? Do we need a politician in Washington, D.C. who is biased in his application of the law? Do we need a politician in Washington, D.C. who will endanger the public good with soft-on-crime policies?

When considering who should replace the RINO Thom Tillis for the Senate seat in North Carolina, should North Carolinians pick the Democrat Roy Cooper and give him an "atta boy Roy"? I don't think so.

Image: Public domain.