Cooper Named in Civil Rights Lawsuit as Anti-Lockdown Protest Arrestee Continues Quest for Justice in State Court
Raleigh Police arrested Monica Ussery in 2020 at the first ReopenNC demonstration after declaring that "protesting is a non-essential activity"
Monica Ussery has filed a civil lawsuit in Wake Superior Court alleging violation of her rights under the North Carolina Constitution in relation to her 2020 arrest for violating Governor Roy Cooper's executive order by engaging in the "non-essential activity" of attending the first ReopenNC protest.
The defendants named in the lawsuit include Cooper, who is reportedly a top possibility for Vice President on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, as well the following:
Erik A. Hooks, then Secretary of the NC Department of Public Safety
Lorrin Freeman, Wake County District Attorney
Cassandra Deck-Brown, then Chief of the Raleigh Police Department (RPD)
Dedric Bond, RPD Captain
Roger "Chip" Hawley, Captain of the NC State Capitol Police (NCSCP)
Martin Brock, Captain of the NC General Assembly Police Department
Derick Proctor, NCSCP Officer
Tito Fink, NCSCP Officer
the City of Raleigh
the State of North Carolina
The complaint largely parallels the suit Ussery brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina last year, which was dismissed last month by the federal judge on a variety of grounds. (Ussery is in the process of appealing to the Fourth Circuit).
Background
On March 27, 2020, Cooper issued Executive Order 121, the "Stay at Home Order", prohibiting North Carolinians from leaving their places of residence except for enumerated "Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Operations, or...COVID-19 Essential Businesses and Operations".
The first ReopenNC anti-lockdown protest was scheduled for two weeks after the implementation of this order on April 14, 2020. The organizer's plan was for attendees to remain by their cars in a parking lot across from the governor's Executive Mansion and periodically honk their horns
Although some demonstrators chose to gather closer together near the road, many, like Ussery, remained socially distanced by her vehicle.
After the demonstration had grown to around a hundred participants, Raleigh Police began their series of three announcements ordering the demonstrators to disperse, on pain of being arrested. As the RPD explained to the public on social media, protesting was a "non-essential activity" under Cooper's executive order.

The body camera footage I was able to obtain and leak three years later gives us additional behind-the-scenes insight into the motivation of the police.
At a staging area away from the prying eyes of the media, RPD Captain Dedric Bond told his unmasked, non-socially distanced officers that he wanted to "make an example" of "agitators" and "start locking some people up" as he "[didn't] want the crowd to continue to grow".
Bond also expressed that he wanted to "get it right this time" so they wouldn't have to "go through the same thing again next Tuesday".
Bond also instructed the officers that "media is already out there too...try to avoid a parent being one of the first ones [arrested]" and they should wear Personal Protective Equipment to "support [his] claim that this is a public health hazard".
Bond also confirmed he had "got the blessing of" Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman as well as the chiefs of the State Capitol Police and the General Assembly Police.
However, the demonstrators dispersed without the resistance expected by the police, and the only arrest they had the opportunity to make was of the last protester left in the parking lot, Ussery.
According to Ussery, she was planning on leaving the parking lot on foot after sending her stepson away in her vehicle, but was prevented from doing so by the police.
Ussery was charged and convicted at bench trial of two misdemeanors: violation of the governor's executive order and trespassing. However, it wasn't until after she appealed to a jury trial that she was finally provided with the bodycam footage exposing the admissions by the police described in the previous paragraphs.
After the disclosure of the bodycam video, Ussery was offered a deferral agreement in which the charges were dismissed after she completed community service.
Monica Faith Ussery VS State Of North Carolina
The civil lawsuit filed on Monday (July 22) contains the following counts:
COUNT I - Conspiracy to Deprive Plaintiff’s North Carolina Constitutional Rights (against all Defendants)
Ussery alleges that the defendants conspired together to deprive her and the other anti-lockdown protesters of their constitutional rights to assemble and protest because they "held views contrary to Defendants’ political agenda", and that they "engag[ed] in retaliatory prosecution" against Ussery: "The circumstances of this case present a protestor standing alone in a public parking lot, a type of conduct no one had ever before or have since been prosecuted."
COUNT II - Violation of N.C. Const. art I, § 12 for Right of Assembly and Petition
Although the right to protest is most often discussed in the context of the First Amendment of the US Constitution in the Bill of Rights, the NC Constitution contains protection for the citizens as well:
Sec. 12. Right of assembly and petition.
The people have a right to assemble together to consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to the General Assembly for redress of grievances; but secret political societies are dangerous to the liberties of a free people and shall not be tolerated.
Cooper's stay-at-home did not make any allowance for exercising these rights as an "essential activity" exempted from the broad prohibition of the order. Ussery argues that the order, as well as the police actions taken to enforce it against the protesters, is thus a violation of the state constitution.
COUNT III - Violation of N.C. Const. art. I § 14 for Free Speech Rights (against all Defendants)
Sec. 14. Freedom of speech and press.
Freedom of speech and of the press are two of the great bulwarks of liberty and therefore shall never be restrained, but every person shall be held responsible for their abuse.
Ussery alleges that the defendants "punished Plaintiff’s speech in a traditional public forum" by arresting and charging her under the very order she was expressing her opposition of.
COUNT IV Violation of N.C. Const. art. I § 19 for Equal Protection and Due Process (against all Defendants)
Sec. 19. Law of the land; equal protection of the laws.
No person shall be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be subjected to discrimination by the State because of race, color, religion, or national origin.
Ussery alleges that, because of her "disfavored" viewpoint, she was "treated differently from, and worse than, other similarly situated persons, including Governor Cooper, who engaged in effectively the same activity as Plaintiff" under the defendants' interpretation and application" of his executive order.
The incident referenced in the lawsuit occurred over a month later, when Cooper joined a BLM march passing by the executive mansion. Photos and video show that Cooper removed his mask, and was not remaining socially distanced from the other demonstrators.
Prayer for Relief
Ussery is asking the court for declaratory judgments that the defendants violated the NC Constitution as alleged above, as well as appropriate damages and court costs.
Editors note: Although I did not know her at the time, I participated in the protest Ussery at which was arrested. Ussery and I later became acquainted as we continued to protest the COVID mandates side-by-side at subsequent events. I have since permanently laid down my picket sign, as I believe I can do more good for the community as a journalist.