Old North News

Peaceful protests across the state in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of the Minneapolis police brought about helpful dialogue but also turned violent in places such as North Carolina, as heavy damage to businesses in Raleigh was reported, including statues being removed. 

The mayors, governors, and legislators bear the responsibility per the U.S. Constitution Article IV, Section 4 to guarantee and protect against domestic violence. Local citizens, however, are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action by their elected officials and are speaking out to the local governments urging them to secure safety in their communities.

Diane Parnell, chairwoman of the Rockingham County Republican Party, does not mince words with her opposition to what she sees as peaceful protests that have crossed the line.

"I understand when people get upset, but riots I don't understand," Parnell told Old North News. "Destroying business fronts and property isn't acceptable. For me and several generations back, we have not done a good job teaching this generation about protests." 

Parnell calls the Black Lives Matter a "Marxist organization" that is preventing anything positive from coming out of the Floyd incident in Minneapolis that has sparked protests across the country.

"We need to show that we believe in America," she said. "That is why so many people are lining up to get into America. Nobody is lining up to get into Venezuela, Brazil or Ukraine - countries like that. Why do we need to loot and riot in our country? It is chaos."

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper drew Parnell's ire for what she sees as allowing destructive behavior to occur during last month's protests.

"Look what Roy Cooper and Nancy Vaughn allowed to happen in Greensboro," Parnell said. "They allowed the roads to be closed so 'Black Lives Matter' could be painted on the roads. What would happen if we decided to close the roads and get up in the middle of the night and paint Donald Trump on the roads? 

"It is not something that we would do because we are a country of laws and we abide by those laws and that is what these people should be made to do. Our elected officials should be the first ones on the scene saying, 'this is wrong and the way you are doing this [rioting and looting] is wrong.'"

Parnell said that it will be an uphill battle for business owners to recover from having their property looted or destroyed. 

"Some of those businesses will not reopen because they don't have the money to fix those storefronts," she said. "Some of those business do not maintain insurance to have those storefronts fixed. I see the cities of Raleigh and Greensboro going to the taxpayers' till and saying, 'we need help to reopen.'"

Parnell believes the nation will return to normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic and protests. 

"We will return to what is normal with caution," she said. "We know at this point that we have elected some people that do not stand behind our rights. The American people are waking up and saying, 'I am not going down without a fight.' Everyone that I talk to is standing up for America."

North Carolina native Heather Pack, who lives in Morrisville and spent time in Ohio, disagrees with Parnell's sentiment and believes the protests in the state and around the country stand for more than just civil unrest. She calls it a matter of life and death for those who believe in the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I do pray that this long overdue demand for true equality and true respect for black lives is not a fad or a light that fizzles out," Pack told Old North News. "This isn’t a fad this is quite literally life and death."