Sunday, October 16, 2016

Firebomb Hurled into Republican Headquarters in Hillsborough, North Carolina

firebomb-hurled-into-republican-headquarters-in-hillsborough-north-carolina

About ten miles north of Chapel Hill, and just 15 northwest of Durham, a firebomb was hurled into the Republican headquarters in the seat of Orange County, Hillsborough, North Carolina. Local media reported that the incident took place in a local shopping center, somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday morning. According to the New York Times, the damage wasn’t discovered until 9 a.m. on Sunday, when a business owner informed the authorities.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory deemed the act “an attack on our democracy.” The executive director of the state GOP, Dallas Woodhouse, called the attack “political terrorism.” He claimed a Molotov cocktail was thrown through a window of the GOP headquarters where a sign had read: “Freedom spoken here.”

The Republican headquarters in town is located at 347 Ja’ Max Drive, in the Shops at Daniel Boone.

Also discovered was racist graffiti on a building adjacent to the property. The words “NAZI REPUBLICANS LEAVE TOWN OR ELSE” were spray-painted in black, in addition to a swastika.

Woodhouse, the state’s GOP leader, publicly condemned the acts as “horrific” and vowed to not be furled by the political intimidation in the town of just under 6,500 people. The Charlotte Observer reported that Hillsborough, an area of a Democratic majority, had already received a van of volunteers from Durham.

One volunteer, Bob Randall, reportedly told the local media that these acts would “backfire” on the perpetrators (if there were more than one), whom he believed were attempting to brutally ensnare the political divide within the country’s current tense political climate, during an election season that has all-but-spun out of morally civil control. These attacks of sheer vandalism — a firebomb hurled into a Republican headquarters in Hillsborough, North Carolina — are truly troubling.

“We’re so grateful that no one was hurt,” Hillsborough mayor Tom Stevens responded to the blast. “I have every confidence … of our law enforcement agencies to find and prosecute … this reprehensible act.” The office headquarters suffered charred furniture, in addition to smoke and fire damage.

Police Chief of Hillsborough, Duane Hampton, stated that:

“The SBI [State Bureau of Investigation] will be partnering with us, and resources from the ATF and FBI have been involved. I also received a call from Sheriff [Charles S.] Blackwood, who offered to make any resources of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that we need available. In the shadow of such an ugly crime, we truly appreciate the unity of support that has been offered and want to assure our citizens that we are working to ensure the safety of our community.”

As leader of the state GOP, Woodhouse reiterated to the public that his party “will not succumb to” these acts.

“When people try to stifle freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, you must come back with more speech and aggressively defend your rights.

“Or else what? Because we’re not going anywhere.”

As of Sunday night, no numbers were available on the total loss of property damage.

The town of Hillsborough stated that anyone with information about these criminal acts should contact investigator Jon Purvis by email or phone at 919-732-9381, ext. 37. An anonymous tip line is also available at 919-732-3975, in addition to the town’s website.

Additional sources for this story:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article108628192.html