Adultery costs TikTok star $1.75 million | "Gentle" man shot WakeMed police officer? | Pittsboro approves gargantuan development | Union activists make anti-ICE, DEI demands
No. 150 — Nov. 9-Nov. 15, 2025
Jury awards $1.75 million in adultery lawsuit against TikTok star
Tensions boil over in courtroom of NC TikTok star’s alienation of affection trial - N&O
NC TikTok star’s husband takes the stand in alienation of affection trial - N&O
NC TikTok star testifies in trial accusing her of alienation of affection - N&O
Jury rules in trial accusing NC TikTok star of ruining marriage - N&O
Woman at center of viral TikTok influencer case speaks out: ‘It was horrible’ - ABC11
Adultery is still taken seriously under North Carolina law, at least in the civil realm.
This week, a jury awarded $1.75 million in a lawsuit against Brenay Kennard, a lifestyle content creator with millions of followers on TikTok, brought by her manager’s aggrieved wife for alienation of affection and criminal conversation, two common law torts under which a spouse can sue a third party for homewrecking.
To prove a claim of alienation of affection, the plaintiff must prove that the “wrongful and malicious acts” of the defendant (including but not limited to adultery) caused “genuine love and affection” in a previously happy marriage to be “alienated and destroyed,” as laid out by the NC Court of Appeals in Chappell v. Redding (1984).
According to the testimony presented in Durham County Superior Court, Kennard was still married when she began an affair with Timothy Montague, who was both her manager as well as the cousin of her then-husband and was married to the plaintiff in the case, Akira Montague.
The jury apparently found the plaintiff’s presentation of video and public material Kennard’s own social media more credible than the testimony of Timothy Montague, who is now married to Kennard after they each divorced their spouses, and awarded the plaintiff $1.5 million for alienation of affection and $250,000 for criminal conversation. In addition to the $1.75 million in compensatory damages, up to $5.25 million could be awarded in punitive damages after another trial next year.
The messiness of the situation has played out in criminal court as well: Akira Montague was charged with communicating threats to Kennard four days before the lawsuit was filed, resulting in a deferred prosecution agreement requiring anger management classes and twelve months of probation.
Both Akira and Timothy Montague were each ordered to be jailed for two days in September on a criminal contempt charge for “willfully and without legal justification or excuse violating [a] prior custody order.”
Kennard, on the other hand, was arrested in September on a charge of cyberstalking for allegedly posting messages on Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram after Akira Montague signed out a complaint alleging that Kennard “harasses [her] constantly online and bullys [sic] her” as well as “constantly mentions my name as well as posts my name and answers questions pertaining to my personal life and pending cases.”
(As we have previously covered on multiple occasions, the broad language of the cyberstalking statute likely falls afoul of the constitutional protections of free speech, which generally covers discussing court cases and even mean and hurtful social media posts.)
Finally, Timothy Montague was charged with unlawfully carrying a concealed concealed weapon and carrying a weapon in a courthouse after allegedly being caught by the security screening at the Durham County courthouse on Wednesday with a 9mm handgun in his bag.
Pittsboro approves gargantuan development
Showdown over Chatham Park’s 5,000-acre ‘small-area plan’ comes to vote and expletives - N&O
The Town of Pittsboro has approved the next phase in a development plan which would swell the town’s population to more than ten times its current size.
The town’s Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the South Village Small Area Plan, which will include 15,078 new dwelling units for an approximate population increase of 31,000, over five times town’s estimated 2024 population of 5,996 (as per the State Demographer).
The entire Chatham Park “master-planned community,” of which this plan is only one element, plans to add over 60,000 residents by 2045, which would comprise nearly two-thirds of an entire district in the NC House, and would dilute the voting power of current Pittsboro citizens by approximately 90%.
Asian fraudster posed as “Anna” to steal $80k from elderly woman, sheriff says
Durham resident Yanru Cui, 28, has been charged with scamming $80,000 from an elderly Wake County citizen while posing as a bank employee last month.
According to the charging documents and a press release by the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Cui posed as an agent Wells Fargo by the name of “Anna,” contacting the victim and telling her that “there was an issue with her online payment system.”
In the month after the fraud was reported on October 10, the WCSO was able to work with the Cary Police Department to identify Cui and bring her into custody.
Cui is charged with two counts of obtaining property by false pretense and two counts of exploitation of an older adult; Cui was released on a secured bond after the amount was reduced from $100,000 to $60,000 after her first court appearance.
ICE tracking app released
‘Lookout, workers’: New app gives NC immigrants tools to track, respond to ICE - N&O
Durham, Wake sheriffs urge calm amid Border Patrol presence in Charlotte - N&O
In light of increased Border Patrol activity in Charlotte, a North Carolina organization which opposes the enforcement of immigration law has released “OJO Obrero,” an app to track an document ICE activity.
Siembra NC has previously been involved in organizing “ICE Watch” trainings to equip volunteers to make and verify such reports, and has consistently opposed the deportation of all illegal aliens, even those previously convicted of violent crimes.
Although sheriff’s are required by North Carolina law to provide a certain level of cooperation with immigration enforcement by honoring ICE detainers for inmates in their custody, the sheriffs of the formerly “sanctuary” counties of Wake and Durham have indicated in statements that they do not provide any voluntary cooperation with ICE, and have not been notified about any planned enforcement activities in their jurisdictions.
Previous Siembra NC coverage:
“Thot Patrol” ICE lookalike sparks new terror (No. 108 — Jan. 25, 2025)
Three Indians among eleven arrested in Durham ICE raids (No. 111 — Feb. 15, 2025)
Durham activists respond to ICE activity at courthouse (No. 134 — Jul. 26, 2025)
Duke bus driver to be returned home after termination of long-abused Temporary Protected Status (No. 139 — Aug. 30, 2025)
Carrboro, Durham declared as “4th Amendment Workplaces” (No. 140 — Sep. 6, 2025)
Wake Democrats share “ICE Watch” training by radical pro-illegal immigration organization (No. 142 — Sep. 20, 2025)
Follow-ups
Friends claim alleged WakeMed shooter was “kind” and “gentle”
Friends say man charged in WakeMed officer’s death was a gentle person in crisis - News & Observer
New claims have arisen regarding Benji Martin Jr., 29, who is charged with fatally shooting a WakeMed police officer in a Garner hospital lobby last week.
According to his friends, violence was out of character for Martin, with one describing him as the “the kindest, most gentle human being.”
Martin reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after his fiancée miscarried his child, and was brought to the Garner HealthPlex by two friends last Saturday.
The details of what exactly ensued when Officer Roger Smith responded to the staff’s request for security in the lobby have yet to be released, but Martin’s self-described best friend, who was not present for the incident, told the News & Observer the following: “Benji hurt nobody. He didn’t physically touch the nurses, and when the video comes out, you are going to see that.”
Protest Watch
Campus conditions and administrative decisions spark protest on Meredith campus
Poor living conditions, more positions eliminated: Meredith College students demand transparency - WRAL
Meredith students walkout, joined by alumni to support professors: ‘It’s a breaking point’ - ABC11
Meredith College Students, Faculty, and Alumni Protest Cuts and On-Campus Living Conditions - INDY
Student Walk-out Recap: a Protest for Transparency - Meredith Herald
Approximately 100 students, staff, and alumnae at Meredith College in Raleigh participated in a walk-out demonstration on Monday to protest conditions at the school as well as recent decisions by the administration.
Although complaints ranged from mold, fleas, and rats in the dorms to shrinking course offerings to staff layoffs and restructurings, the issues seem to all be related to the fact that Meredith’s enrollment has dropped 20% since its 2017 peak of 2,000 students.
Despite charging a tuition of nearly $50k per year, the shrinking enrollment has driven the college into a $1.8 million budget deficit and spurring such measures as a cutting 6% of its workforce and 1/3 of its adjunct facility, and eliminating the positions of the school’s four academic deans.
Union advocates demand ICE denouncement etc. from Durham Food Hall
Workers March on Durham Food Hall With Demand Letter - Durham Dispatch
Last Saturday, three weeks after it was publicized that a digital recruitment ad for ICE had been briefly displayed on a screen at the Durham Food Hall, workers and union activists marched on the facility with a letter making anti-ICE and DEI-related demands among those related to workplace conditions and union organizing.
The ad, reading “Join ICE today. $50,000 signing bonus,” was apparently so distressing that vendors such as EX-Voto, Patty Boy, and Little Barb’s temporarily closed, organizing anti-immigration enforcement trainings and raising funds for the anti-ICE organization Siembra NC.
Although the venue’s management already agreed to provide anti-ICE training, the demand letter brought in concert with the Durham Hospitality Worker’s Alliance and the Union of Southern Service Workers included a public apology and a public anti-ICE stance, as well as an end to the “racism” of denying bathroom use to non-customers and mandatory DEI training:
1. Repair and accountability for the ICE recruitment ad played
a. Provide ICE raid training including 4th amendment workplace training and no search and seizure training
b. Issue a public statement taking a stance against ICE
c. Make a public apology for the harm to workers and chaos caused by the ad
...4. End to racism at Durham Food Hall
a. Allow patrons to use restrooms regardless of purchase
b. Zero tolerance policy for overt racist behavior
c. DEI training for all managers and owners of the Food Hall
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Bond was less than stolen amount. Has it been recovered?!