"I am Antifa:" detention officer terminated after advocating for imprisoning/executing right-wingers
Detention Corporal Brian D. Edwards has been terminated by the Orange County Sheriff's Office after a right-wing meme account exposed extremist social media posts
An employee of the Orange County Sheriff's Office has been terminated from his position as Detention Corporal after a right-wing meme account on Twitter/X exposed social media posts in which Brian D. Edwards identified himself as "antifa" and called for right-wingers to be "thrown in prison" or even sent to the "guillotine."
According to the OCSO, Edwards was suspended on Saturday when the post by Mostly Peaceful Memes went viral and the extremist statements were brought to their attention, and was terminated this morning after the ensuing investigation "confirmed violations of both the Standards of Conduct and the Speech, Expression, and Social Networking sections of the policy manual."
“We must maintain the public trust as we go about our mission to protect, serve, and treat everyone with dignity and respect,” said Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood, a 45-year veteran of the department who was first elected sheriff in 2014.
The Posts
In one post, Edwards declared "I am antifa," and that he would "never comply with a fascist regime," echoing the "antifascist" ideology associated with numerous acts of petty and grand terrorism across the United States, as well as the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. (Along with this post, Edwards shared a link an anti-Trump folk song he wrote and performed.)
My name is Brian
I am 37 years old
I am in North Carolina
I am Antifa
And I will never comply with a fascist regime.— Bdedwards87 (@bdedwards87.bsky.social) September 19, 2025
In another post, Edwards mourned that Reconstruction had not been more punitive for white Southerners, promising that there would be "war crime trials" when the "right wing is once again defeated," suggesting life sentences and/or the "guillotine" for his political opponents.
I maintain that the biggest mistake the US government has ever made was letting the traitors from the civil war off the hook and allowing them to come back into our country without punishment.
When this is over and the right wing is once again defeated. We will not make that same mistake. There will be war crimes trials and I can't wait to see every single one of them thrown in prison for the rest of their lives.
It may even be time to bring back the guillotine.
Mostly Peaceful Memes responded to the news of Edwards' termination with a simple celebration:
Antifa Cops: 0
A meme page: 1 https://t.co/7rFGPdgPta
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) September 22, 2025
In response to a request for comment, Mostly Peaceful Memes provided an even simpler statement: "For Charlie."
Leftist extremism in Orange County
Orange County went for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election by a 51 point margin, making it only second to neighboring Durham as the bluest counties in the entire state of North Carolina.
The county is dominated culturally and politically by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (and the town which has grown up around it), whose tens of thousands of students, staff, and faculty make up a significant portion of the county's census estimate of 152,877 as of 2024.
A 2024 review by the College Fix found that out of 239 professors at UNC-Chapel Hill who were registered to vote, only six were registered as Republicans while 203 were registered as Democrats. In addition, a 2022 survey found that a majority of self-identified conservative students at UNC-Chapel Hill reported having self-censored more than once, more than twice the rate of moderates and six times the rate of liberal students (54%, 21%, and 9% respectively).
Although antifa black-bloc "direct actions" have been more prominent in the nearby larger cities of Durham and Raleigh, certain events in Orange County certainly bear the fingerprints of antifa ideology and strategy, such as the firebombing of the Orange County Republican Party headquarters in 2016, at which attack a swastika and "Nazi Republicans leave town or else" were found graffitied on a nearby building.
Pro-Palestine "activism"
More recently, antifa tactics and ideology have been on display at the campus-focused pro-Palestine movement which swelled in popularity after the terrorist attacks on October 7th, 2023 and the subsequent Israeli retaliation.
Pro-Palestine activists have apparently successfully used anti-surveillance tactics, for which antifa is known, to repeatedly vandalize the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, such as at Polk Place earlier this month, or at the Naval ROTC Armory last September, where the demonstrators painted messages such as "DEATH TO US" and replaced an American flag with a Palestinian flag.
Despite UNC Police obtaining a search warrant for information related to the UNC Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram account last year, there appear to have been no related arrests.
The police did take rather effective action at the "Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the UNC campus in April 2024, clearing out the demonstration and arresting three dozen rule-breakers who refused to leave in an early morning sweep. (Supporters were also spotted using antifa-like anti-media tactics to attempt to block coverage of the arrestees being released from the Orange County Detention Center.)
Although the local district attorney did prosecute the mass arrests, the arrestees were offered pretrial diversions in which even those charged with assaulting police were able to get their charges dismissed with a maximum of 36 hours of community service.
In the meantime, while the charges were open, black bloc antifa demonstrators were spotted marching through the streets of Chapel Hill in a late night "direct action" organzied by Triangle Stop Cop City, which vandalized the Chapel Hill Courthouse with messages including "Kill Cops," "Death to Cops", "Burn the Prisons," and "Jihad Now."
Ultimately, out of thirty-four criminal cases stemming from the UNC encampment, twenty-one defendants took pretrial diversion, six were dismissed by the DA due to the "arresting officer [being] unable to be identified," while the remaining seven were dismissed after the first case went to trial and the judge ruled that no "reasonable juror" could find guilt based on the evidence presented.
More details & analysis:
UNC Law Student charged in Georgia black bloc terrorism
In March 2023, transgender-identifying UNC-Chapel Hill law student James "Jamie" Marsicano was among leftists activists charged with terrorism in relation to an attack on the Georgia "Cop City" law enforcement training facility under construction, in which black bloc antifa "[threw] large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at police officers," according to the Atlanta Police.
Marsicano was banned from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus due to being charged with domestic terrorism; leftist activist held at least two demonstrations in protest of the ban, including one in which they delivered a petition with over 700 signatures asking for Marsicano to be allowed to walk in the 2024 graduation (Marsicano was able to complete his degree through classes at Duke).
Despite (or perhaps because of) the allegations, Marsicano was awarded the 2024 Winston Crisp Leadership Award by the UNC Student Bar Association for Marsicano's leftist activism, including as president of the university's National Lawyers Guild chapter, and organization known for collaborating and providing cover for violent and/or illegal antifa actions.
(In August, a Georgia judge dismissed the domestic terrorism charges against Marsicano due to due process and constitutional violations; he still faces charges in a related RICO conspiracy case.)
"Take Back Title IX" bus vandalized
Last year, a bus associated with the Our Bodies, Our Sports campaign to keep transgender-identifying men out of women's sports was egged and defaced overnight in Carrboro after a tour stop at the nearby UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
The vandals "violated nearly every inch" of the bus" according to images shared by the tour's organizers which include transgender slogans and drawings of genitalia; the vandals also crossed out signatures of supporters which had been collected across the county. Although the incident was reported to the Carrboro Police, the perpetrators appear to have gone unidentified and unprosecuted.
Previous coverage:
UNC students protest decision to ban ‘Cop City’ activist (No. 15 — Apr. 15, 2023)
Antifa UNC Law student dances into Georgia arraignment (No. 45 — Nov. 11, 2023)
"Students for Justice in Palestine" interrupt public discourse event at UNC (No. 56 — Jan. 27, 2024)
UNC students protest in favor of antifa law student banned from campus over "domestic terrorism" charges (No. 67 — Apr. 13, 2024)
UNC Students for Justice in Palestine hold "encampment" in support of anti-Israel demonstrators at Columbia University (No. 68 — Apr. 20, 2024)
Alleged domestic terrorist receives UNC award (No. 68 — Apr. 20, 2024)
Anti-Israel protesters make 2nd attempt at UNC encampment (No. 69 — Apr. 27, 2024)
UNC Pro-Palestine Encampment Shutdown Timeline (No. 70 — May 4, 2024)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators begin third encampment at UNC (No. 71 — May 11, 2024)
"Take Back Title IX" bus vandalized in Carrboro (No. 77 — Jun. 22, 2024)
Defense of American flag by UNC frat bros celebrated at RNC (No. 81 — Jul. 20, 2024)
Interim UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts confirmed to permanent appointment (No. 84 — Aug. 10, 2024)
Flagstock: was it the vibe? (No. 88 — Sep. 7, 2024)
UNC students commit vandalism spree in support of Palestine (No. 90 — Sep. 21, 2024)
Pro-Palestine leftists celebrate anniversary of October 7th attacks with "Week of Resistance" (No. 93 — Oct. 12, 2024)
Chapel Hill removes "Power of Good Trouble" art display which featured pro-Palestine demonstrator (No. 99 — Nov. 23, 2024)
UNC pro-Palestine encampment arrestees receive pretrial depositions (No. 101 — Dec. 7, 2024)
UNC pro-Palestine encampment charges - how they were resolved (No. 103 — Dec. 21, 2024)
Anniversary of "Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on UNC campus (No. 122 — May 3, 2025)
One Year Later: review and analysis of UNC pro-Palestine encampment arrests (Original Article — May 8, 2025)
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools faces apparently unrelated same-day student walkouts (No. 126 — May 31, 2025)
Domestic Terrorism charges dismissed against UNC antifa (No. 138 — Aug. 23, 2025)
Palestine supporters vandalize UNC campus, again (No. 141 — Sep. 13, 2025)