No Kings protest fallout: two handgun arrests, Dem. lawmaker apologizes for sharing guillotine image | Stein vetoes immigration enforcement bills
No. 129 — Jun. 15-Jun. 21, 2025
Local business proprietor among two charged with carrying handgun at No Kings protest in Cary
The constitutions of North Carolina and United States of American each protect both the right to keep and bear arms, and the right to assemble in protest.
Yet, if you exercise both of those rights at the same time, you will find yourself afoul of NC GS § 14-277.2, which forbids anyone "participating in, affiliated with, or present as a spectator" at any demonstration on public property from possessing any "dangerous weapon."
This is exactly the statute under which Daniel Jeff Milewski, 44, of Cary and Robert Stephen Meyers, 54, of Clayton were arrested and charged at the Cary location of last week's nationwide anti-Trump "No Kings" rally.
According to charging documents, the two men are alleged to have "participate[d]" in the demonstration while carrying weapons, with Meyers was carrying a HK P30 and Milewski carrying a Glock 30 and "two silver daggers."
Although Meyers and Milewski were arrested in the physical vicinity of the protest, it is not clear that they were actually present with the intent to "participate:" Meyers is the owner of Apocalypse Girl Tattoo, which has two locations near the site of the protest, the closer of which is close to one hundred yards from where the arrests occurred near the intersection of Maynard Rd. and Kildaire Farm Rd.
According to a comment by a Facebook user appearing to have personal knowledge of the incident, the pair were carrying a sign between the two locations and passing out business cards along the way when they were stopped and arrested by Cary Police.
There do not appear to have been any appellate cases clarifying the precise definition of "participate" or "be present as a spectator" in this statute, or ruling on the constitutionality (especially in light of more recent SCOTUS rulings such as DC v. Heller).
Cary Police did not respond to a request for information or comment on the arrests.
Democrat Rep. apologizes for sharing Trump guillotine image from No Kings protest
Wake Democrat criticized over image depicting beheaded Trump - North State Journal
NC Rep. EXPOSED after sharing photo calling for beheading of Trump - Libs of TikTok
Democratic state representative faces backlash over social media post - Carolina Journal
Wake County Democrat Rep. Julie von Haefen was exposed by LibsOfTikTok this week after celebrating last week's No Kings protests with a social media post including an image of a demonstrator carrying a display portraying a decapitated Donald Trump with a guillotine and the words "in these difficult times, some cuts may be necessary:"
Von Haefen's district 36 in southern Wake County includes portions of Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, and Holly Springs, and the Republicans critical of her post included fellow Wake County legislators Rep. Mike Schietzelt and Rep. Erin Paré, both of whom connected the imagery to the same-day shooting of two Minnesota legislators and their spouses (one of whom was a Raleigh native.)
Von Haefen responded to the criticism by removing the image from her post, deleting her Twitter/X account, and release a statement on Facebook in which she admitted that the image was "inappropriate" and condemned political violence:
Yesterday, I posted a video on social media containing crowd photos from the No Kings protest in Raleigh. One of the images of a protestor holding a sign was inappropriate, and I later edited the video to remove the photo.
Let me be clear: I condemn political violence in all forms. My focus remains on bringing people together and fighting for the values that matter to North Carolinians. Like so many, I was horrified by the violence in Minnesota. There is no place for that kind of extremism in our democracy, no matter the target, no matter the party.
— Representative Julie von Haefen- NC House 36 June 15, 2025
Von Haefen also made an apology on the NC House floor to "take accountability" for the "inappropriate" image, and apologize to anyone who was "offended" by her post.
ICYMI
Raw milk bans removed from farm bill after grassroots opposition, controversial provisions remain
Provisions which would have repealed the currently available means of selling and distributing raw milk have been removed from the final version of the 2025 Farm Act after attracting grassroots opposition, including from two farmers and a pet store owner interviewed by the Triangle Trumpet.
Protest Watch
Gov. Stein veto of immigration enforcement bills
Protesters demand Stein ‘get a spine’ and veto NC bills to expand ICE cooperation - N&O
Demonstrators rally outside governor's mansion in Raleigh amid ongoing immigration policy debate - ABC11
On Wednesday, over a hundred protesters including Durham school board member Emily Chávez gathered outside Governor Stein's executive mansion for an "Ice Out of NC" rally to protest against two immigration related bills on his desk after being passed by the General Assembly: Senate Bill 153, which would require four state agencies to participate in the 287(g), and House Bill 318, which would close a loophole in the current ICE detainer cooperation requirement by also require detention facilities to notify ICE before releasing illegal aliens.
Stein vetoed the bills on Friday, along with Senate Bill 50, which would have eliminated the permit requirement for the concealed carry of handguns.
"Banned books" read on legislative lawn
Why protesters gathered in downtown Raleigh — to read books on the lawn - N&O
Progressive group Red Wine and Blue organized "dozens" of people including children outside the Legislative Building to read "banned books" in protest House Bill 636, which would establish a criteria for school libraries to forbid any material which "includes descriptions or visual depictions of sexual activity or is pervasively vulgar."
All of the allegedly "banned books" are available for purchase by members of the public, but this is not sufficient for the activists, who demand that schoolchildren must be able to access LGBTQ books and books with graphic descriptions and/or depictions of sexual activity in public school systems, specifically material such as Lawn Boy, which includes explicit descriptions of sexual activity between 4th graders; The Kite Runner, which contains graphic descriptions of rape; or even Tomorrow Is Too Far, with "pornographic, incestual, sexual content" which caused a 10th grader to drop out after being assigned it in a Honors English class at a Wake County school.