NC House Speaker Files Bill to Stiffen Consequences for Rioting, Property Damage

RALEIGH – Speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives Tim Moore (R) is joined by other leading House Republicans in sponsoring legislation to increase penalties for those that engage in rioting and destruction of property.

House Bill 805, Prevent Rioting and Civil Disorder, increases penalties for rioting or the incitement of rioting, that results in property damage, injury, or death; for assaulting emergency personnel during a riot or state of emergency; allows for treble damages for property damage or personal injury caused by rioting or looting; and, require pretrial release conditions of suspects accused of rioting and looting to be determined by a judge.

It would have been hard to imagine just a year ago that lawmakers on Jones Street would have cause to make it more clear in law and penalty that rioting and destroying public and private property is not okay, no matter the Wokeness of the cause. Alas, across cities in North Carolina (and the nation), a series of rolling BLM/Antifa riots, starting around this time last year, shook downtown districts and created scenes few if any thought they’d ever see just weeks before.

And it is a veritable sense of impunity that permeates this trend of incessant anti-police Woke grievance protests designed to devolve into violence and cause chaos. The sponsors of this legislation address that directly, making destructive rioting a felony that carries series consequences.

Perhaps that will give the delinquent Wokies fueling the overwhelming majority of destruction over the last year cause to pause before smashing up small businesses.

Read the rest of the bill here.