Charlie Kirk assassination | Mayor cancels pride month proclamation | Raleigh, Cary receiving disproportionate share of hospitality taxes
No. 141 — Sep. 7-Sep. 13, 2025
The Charlie Kirk assassination: patriot grief vs leftist celebration
NC State Turning Point USA chapter holds vigil for Charlie Kirk, 9/11 - CBS17
'Bad place as a nation': UNC conservatives remember Charlie Kirk with memorials and vigil - Spectrum News
NC teachers face backlash over comments on Kirk’s assassination - Carolina Journal
Whether it's "conservative activist," "Trump ally," or "MAGA podcaster," no epithet seems adequate to describe the national (and international) impact of Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Wednesday while conducting one of his signature public debate events at Utah Valley University.
However, for all that Kirk inspired young people across America in his mission to spread right-wing and Christian values, it also made him one of if not the biggest target of concentrated hate by the radical left and "antifascists" in particular, often fueled by out-of-context quotes or outright lies which misportray his actual beliefs. (By all indications, it was this exact radical leftism which provided the motivation for the 22-year-old Utah man arrested for the murder.)
Kirk has been honored memorial services on the campuses of NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill, each of which also has a chapter of Kirk's Turning Point USA, which he founded in 2012 to organize and support right-wing student activism. (There is also an upcoming public memorial gathering being organized at Moore Square in Raleigh on Monday, September 15.)
Countless North Carolinians have expressed appreciation for Kirk, or at least horror at this gross display of political violence, the Triangle also has it's share of those who express the exact same ideology which justified, excused, or even outright called for Kirk's death prior to the assassination being carried out.
At NC State's Free Expression Tunnel, messages and artwork students painted in memory of Kirk and the victims of 9/11 were covered with responses including "f*** Charlie," "rot in heaven," and "die die die," only to be covered again with the original pro-America art.
The exact same "rot in hell" sentiment was expressed by Idris Abdul-Aziz, the chair of the Humanities Department at Millbrook High School in the Wake County Public School System, with Wake County's Moms for Liberty chapter questioning whether "people who celebrate murder [should] be around our children." (WCPSS does not appear to be taking action, despite complaints.)
Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews has weighed in as well, according to a post shared by the North Carolina Sheriff Police Alliance, accusing Kirk of having "disguised himself as a Christian" while citing lies about Kirk circulating widely in left-wing media.
Wake Forest mayor rescinds pride month declaration after pushback
Wake Forest mayor faces backlash after withdrawing LGBTQ History Month proclamation - Wake Weekly
Wake Forest Mayor Walks Back Pride Month Proclamation - INDY
Wake Forest drops LGBTQ history recognition, citing ‘strong feelings’ on both sides - N&O
At a Wake Forest Board of Commissioners meeting on September 2, the town's mayor Vivian Jones announced her intention to proclaim October as "pride month," prompting conservative Commissioner Faith Cross to respond that she was not "supportive" of the effort.
Last October, Cross spoke openly in opposition to the first-ever pride festival in Wake Forest which had just occurred, pointing to the fact that the event had been included in a listing of pride events on an explicit LGBTQ website, as well as the presence of the "anti-Christian drag group" Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence: "This event, despite claiming inclusivity, was very divisive."
In response to the pushback, including from the North Carolina Values Coalition, Jones clarified that she had intended the proclamation to be for "LGBTQ History Month," while also announcing that she would be cancelling the proclamation, as she realized that issuing a proclamation in light of the conflicting "deeply held beliefs" in the town would, a bit ironically, fall afoul of the town's strategic goal of "Fostering a Safe, Diverse and Welcoming Community."
A Message from Mayor Vivian Jones
Towards the end of our September 2 Board of Commissioners Work Session, while reviewing the draft agenda for our regular meeting on September 16, I misspoke when I announced plans to read a proclamation declaring October as “Pride Month in Wake Forest.”
In fact, the proclamation I planned to read was to recognize October as LGBTQ History Month - which is observed in October in cities and towns throughout the United States.
I apologize for confusing the two observances, but more importantly, I am terribly sorry for the discord it has generated in our community.
Over the past week, I have heard from several people expressing strong feelings on both sides of this issue.
Whereas my willingness to issue the proclamation was motivated by my commitment to one of the goals of our Strategic Plan – “Fostering a Safe, Diverse and Welcoming Community” - I now realize that by expressing support for our LGBTQ community I may have unintentionally suggested the Town’s official support for one set of deeply held beliefs over another set just as deeply rooted.
Therefore, after careful consideration and as an acknowledgement of the diversity of convictions throughout our community, I have decided not to proceed with issuing any proclamation related to LGBTQ History Month.
— Town of Wake Forest, NC (@TownofWakeForest) September 9, 2025
Previous coverage:
Drag "nuns" ride in Cary Christmas parade (Original Article — Dec. 9, 2023)
REPORT: Wake Forest Pride Fest (No. 92 — Oct. 5, 2024)
Wake Forest commissioner Faith Cross takes a rare stand against the town's first "Pride Fest" earlier this month (No. 94 — Oct. 19, 2024)
ICE picks up Mexican drug dealer after release from state prison
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a "criminal illegal alien" from Mexico after he finished serving a years-long sentence for trafficking heroin in Wake County.
In February, Sebastián Navarrete Oyorzabal, 23, plead guilty to trafficking heroin by transportation, trafficking heroin by possession, and possession of heroin with intent to sell/deliver, and was sentenced to 35-51 months in prison, with credit for the time he spent in jail pretrial with a $2 million bond.
According to arrest records, Oyorzabal was a resident of Selma at the time of his April 2022 arrest in Garner by the Wake County Sheriff's Office.
Absurd: UNC folklore master's student publishes thesis on "queer" farming
A post by Manhattan Institute fellow Colin Wright highlights an absurd LGBTQ-themed master's thesis published by a student at UNC-Chapel Hill:
🚨New Master's thesis—"That Eggplant is My Queer Community"—out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The author interviews "self-identified queer farmers" about how agriculture affirms their queerness, the "heteropatriarchal norms of agriculture," and how they "assert queerness as a natural element of agriculture."Published this week.
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) September 9, 2025
Wake County legislator draws attention to "lack of fairness" in hospitality tax distribution
Rep. Erin Paré, who represents House District 37 in Southwestern Wake County as a Republican, has announced she is working on legislation to amend Wake County's hospitality taxes, which are currently disproportionately distributed to Raleigh and Cary by statute, despite being collected across the whole county.
In the state statute authorizing the collection of an Occupancy Tax of up to 6% and a Prepared Food and Beverage Tax of up to 1% (both of which the county is maxing out), the City of Raleigh and the Town of Cary are named alone (out of the twelve municipalities primarily in Wake County) to receive a statutorily defined set-aside of the tax revenue.
Although Raleigh and Cary are still the largest municipalities in the county, the proportion of the population which resides in the other ten towns has shifted drastically since the statute was enacted in 1991.
According to the 1990 decennial census, Raleigh and Cary made up about 50% and 10% of the county's population respectively, with the other ten towns adding up to less than 10%. After thirty years of dramatic net migration, the 2020 census revealed that Raleigh and Cary made up about 41% and 15% of the county, while the share of the population living in the other municipalities rose to about 25%.
Although the other municipalities can compete (along with Raleigh and Cary) for a portion of the revenue allocated to the county government, at least 85% of the distribution was to Raleigh and Cary, despite only 70% of the tax revenue being collected in these two jurisdictions, according to the data shared by Paré.
Paré has indicated that she is drafting legislation, along with Wake County's only other Republican in the House of Representatives Mike Schietzelt, to stop the other municipalities of the county from "getting ripped-off."
Protest Watch
Palestine supporters vandalize UNC campus, again
Polk Place vandalized with anti-genocide messages, echoing phrasing from recently removed mural - Daily Tar Heel
Pro-Palestine activists have once again vandalized the UNC-Chapel Hill campus at 3 am Monday morning with anti-Israel messages painted in black paint and red "blood" in various locations around Polk Place, where the Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment was briefly held in XXX, including on the flagpole which was the location of notorious conflict after the demonstrators replaced the American flag with a Palestinian flag.
There are still occasional pro-Palestine protests, which don't get too much attention, such as a "Stop Starving Gaza" protest in Cary on Saturday, which attracted at least dozens of participants. Unlike many of the recent pro-Palestine demonstrations in the past two years which have been dominated by antifa/leftist/student activists, the participants of this demonstration appear to have been primarily Muslim/Middle Eastern families, more similar to the pre-October 7 protests held in Raleigh.
Pro-Palestine activists also reportedly climbed a parking deck in Raleigh on Tuesday to peer in the windows of a Jewish synagogue downtown where a former Hamas captive was speaking about his experience, according to a post by an Israeli intelligence "collective":
🚨 Stalking an Oct 7 Hostage at a Synagogue in Raleigh
“Free Palestine” hate group targeted freed Jewish hostage Omer Shem Tov
Now, days later, Charlie Kirk was gunned down by an extremist, and this same “Free Palestine” hate movement is cheering.
📰 On September 9 at 8 PM, the “Free Palestine” hate group climbed into a parking deck and aimed cameras straight through the windows of The Shul Downtown.
These people threaten everyone who stands for Western values.
Inside, Omer Shem Tov, a man held captive by Hamas for 505 days, spoke.
Despite everything.
One shul attendant: “10–20 all masked up with flags and drums shouting nonsense… Raleigh PD was outstanding, the room was full of light and energy for an outstanding night to celebrate light and life.”
Although everything ended okay, we must ALL STAY VIGILANT.
Learn the legal ways to defend yourself, especially when it comes to carrying a firearm.
— Shirion Collective (@ShirionOrg) September 11, 2025
Even a green card doesn't protect you from automatic removal after a felony conviction of a year or more.