Local GOP stands by embattled Harper

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By William R. Toler

When asked if the Craven County Republican Party intends to support Bill Harper, who is facing accusations of voter intimidation, chairman Michael Speciale said, “I intend to stand by him.”

By showing his support, Speciale sent a letter to the Sun Journal and the Independent Register criticizing the actions taken by Sheriff Jerry Monette and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Here is that letter:

Sheriff Jerry Monette overstepped his authority when he confiscated Bill Harper’s property. Monette had no warrant and no offense with which to charge Mr. Harper. When questioned what his legal authority was for taking Mr. Harpers property, Sheriff Monette said that people were getting incited, and that Mr. Harper’s actions bordered on disorderly conduct.
Sheriff Monette doesn’t understand that this is America, and the law cannot confiscate property without a warrant or an arrest. There is no such charge as ‘bordering’ on anything, and the Sheriff’s excuses are weak. In a free country, folks don’t have the right not to be offended. Mr. Harper and the rest of the citizens of this great country do, however, have the right to express their political views. 

This whole incident was a partisan political ploy put into place by several prominent Democrats, and Sheriff Monette played into their hands. The only people getting incited were the political players in the Democratic Party because they know that Mr. Harper is well known and well liked, and his message resonates with the citizens.  He is effective at getting out his message, and they wanted to stop him.

Representative [William] Wainwright and the president of the local and state NAACP played our Sheriff like a fiddle, and now he is too embarrassed to honor his word and return Mr. Harper’s property like he promised. When the Sheriff could not come up with a legal reason for taking Mr. Harper’s property, he promised that he would have it back in place before the polls opened the following morning. He did not honor that promise, and he denied Mr. Harper’s freedom of speech when it would have been most effective. 

Just so everyone has the story straight, the coffin represented the government ‘taxing us to death’. There were several signs stating ‘Joe the Plumber, Taxed to Death’ and “Born Free, Taxed to Death’. The race baiters from the NAACP and our Representative Wainwright are attempting to make this into a racial issue, and they are impuning Mr. Harper’s reputation as a result. The coffin had nothing to do with Obama.  Someone had placed two bumper stickers with a small picture of Obama with the red circle and slash through it, and the words o’no bama. 

Because of the bumper stickers, the race baiters are claiming that the coffin was for Obama, and that is their sick mentality running wild. Anyone that knows Bill Harper knows that he has been using that coffin for almost two decades, and each and every time it represented the government taxing us to death. Anything else is a stretch that the race baiters invented themselves to impune Mr. Harper’s reputation.

I was with Mr. Harper nearly the whole time he was out at the polls, and nothing he said or did was improper or against the law, and this whole incident should never have happened. I hope that Mr. Harper pursues legal remedies against these folks who have tarnished his reputation.

While the Independent Register has stated an opinion, we invite officials of the NAACP as well as Sheriff Jerry Monette to take the opportunity to have your voice heard as well.

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Tags: Bill Harper, casket, craven county, free speech, GOP, Michael Speciale, Sheriff Jerry Monette, voter intimidation