Groups meet in Raleigh to protest NC bill targeting riots

On Wednesday, racial justice organizations gathered in Raleigh to protest a bill that would impose harsher penalties for people charged with rioting.

House Bill 805 was introduced by House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) in May and could be voted on in the coming days. The House and Senate have yet to vote on it.

Protesters want Gov. Roy Cooper to veto the measure, saying it will stifle free speech and discourage protests, including those calling for racial justice and police accountability.

Supporters of the bill say it will prevent dangerous riots similar to those in downtown Raleigh last summer that followed the death of George Floyd.

Under the bill, those who commit significant property damage or injure someone can face felony charges and be held in jail for up to 48 hours. If convicted, they could face two years in prison.

Those who oppose this bill say laws are already on the book for property damage and inciting violence. They see the bill as retaliation for the recent uprising over racial injustice.

Groups in attendance Wednesday included Emancipate North Carolina, the North Carolina NAACP, El Pueblo, Democracy North Carolina and North Carolina Asian Americans Together.

Bradley Hunt, leader of the Greensboro NAACP, called the bill a distraction, saying, "We are deeply concerned that at a time when the North Carolina General Assembly should be hard at work making much needed changes to our state's broken criminal justice system ... we are instead dealing with an anti-riot bill."

Hunt also said it is a "deflection of the most important issues last summer," stating that recent racial injustice protests were necessary while referencing Brianna Taylor, Ahmad Aubrey and George Floyd.

"These protests were by and large peaceful and centered in restorative justice," Hunt said. "These protests were in response to generations and decades of state sanctioned violence being waged against people of color."

Some groups called HB 805 an "anti-Black Lives Matter bill," saying no such bill was introduced when previous, non-racial protests turned into riots.

“I ask you: What does democracy look like here in North Carolina?" said Kathy Greggs, president and co-founder of the Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Task Force. "Because this right here in this bill is not democracy.”