Candidate for the LPNC Governor Nomination

I have made the case to you, North Carolina, many times, as to why I should be your next governor. I have met you face-to-face, through video, in debate, and out doing the work fighting for Liberty. 

The place I have met you that means the most to me is when we are standing together fighting against the overreach of the state and the oppression it inevitably brings against those who defy it or refuse to comply with the morality it wants to enforce. 

Over the last few years, I have led the charge seeking Justice for Joshua, pushing back against Gastonia cops who abused their power, assaulted homeless war veteran Joshua Rohrer - resulting in the death of his service dog. I kept showing up, at every rally and city council meeting, while the city fought to keep the body camera footage hidden for nine months until it could no longer affect the outcome of the trial. And I kept showing up after that, demanding accountability for the clear crimes and abuses of power shown on the body camera video. 

At the same time, the City of Gastonia leveraged the weapons at its disposal and shut down Pastor Moses Colbert's church where he let homeless people shelter and eat. Rohrer was one of the human beings who Pastor Moses was helping. When Pastor Moses spoke out against the police violence Joshua suffered, the city shut his ministry down, citing fire and safety violations. In the three years that Pastor Moses had been giving people shelter, no one had died on the streets of Gastonia from exposure. In the three winter months after the city shut him down, more than thirty people died on the streets.

Over the last three years, the LPNC has covered the actions of the City of Gastonia and Pastor Moses's fight against them in detail, but eventually, despite all of our attempts to comply with increasingly ridiculous requirements and demands from the city, the accrued fines were too much, and Pastor Moses was forced to shut down the shelter part of his ministry and consider a new approach. In a development that should surprise exactly no one, those people once again were out on the streets with no where to go. 

Despite their victory, the city is not content with turning people out on the streets to freeze to death. Apparently, they want to continue attacking Pastor Moses as he looks for ways, like overnight services, to help the most vulnerable avoid the frigid temperatures. 

The fire marshal has made several demands of Pastor Moses, all of them expensive, unnecessary, and authoritarian, doubling down on a city policy that is anti-homeless and unwilling to tolerate dissent or challenges to its power. Unfortunately, this is a legacy that has followed the City of Gastonia for decades.

The city did note that it has the Salvation Army as a resource, which can hold 64 people, four of whom can be men, according to the WSPA Spartanburg story linked above. There are estimated to be about 200 homeless people in Gastonia, and Pastor Moses had capacity for all of them. 

I say to you, North Carolina, it's time we say "no more!" I will lead the fight for Liberty, and make sure no one is criminalized for helping fellow humans, starting in Gastonia, and on through the rest of our beautiful state. 

We have two debates coming up, with details listed in this newsletter, as well as a speaking opportunity at the WakeLP convention. I hope you all take the chance to listen and get to know me, as I continue to share my vision for a free and prosperous North Carolina and my plan to get us there. 

And I also hope you are moved by Pastor Moses and his ministry, and can give a little something to help him.

I can't wait to meet the rest of you and be your champion for Liberty.