Palestine supporters "Abandon Harris" outside NC DP headquarters | Flagstock: what happened? | 2022 contempt conviction for mask-refuser reversed
Palestine supporters "Abandon Harris" outside NC DP headquarters | Flagstock: what happened? | 2022 contempt conviction for mask-refuser reversed
No. 88 — Sep. 1-Sep. 7, 2024
Campaign encourages far-left voters to "Abandon Harris" over Palestine
Trump Campaign’s Key to Keeping N.C. Red May Be Radical Hamas Supporters - Headline USA
"Abandon Harris" Campaign Kicks Off at The North Carolina Democratic Pary HQ - NC Political Tea
I've been meaning to get back into more on-location reporting, so I headed down to Raleigh on Thursday for a press conference held by the "Abandon Harris" campaign in front of the NC Democratic Party headquarters.
The gist of the messaging was that "genuine progressives" should vote for one of the three avowed socialist running for president (Jill Stein, Cornel West, or Claudia De La Cruz) instead of Vice President Kamala Harris because the "genocide" in Palestine is such an important issue that no other difference between Harris and former President Donald Trump matters.
If you are familiar with the pro-Palestine activism movement across the country, you will know that it goes hand-in-hand with radical leftism; you'll often hear anti-Zionism in the same sentence as anti-fascism, anti-racism, anti-capitalism, or anti-colonialism.
For instance, it has been reported that one of the speakers at this event, Dr. Rania Masri has previously called the October 7th attacks a "beautiful day", using language very much in line with the neo-Marxist ideologies: "I just want to be very frank about it and not be in the least bit apologetic of the violence of the oppressed or the occupied.”
As the press conference came to a close, Palestinian activist Danyah Dahbour began attempting to block my camera, despite the fact that it was a press conference held outside on a public sidewalk, and I had already recorded nearly the whole event:
The real question of interest is: how many single-issue Palestine voters are there who would otherwise vote for the Democratic candidate.
Nearly 90,000 voters selected "No Preference" over President Joe Biden in the 2024 NC Democratic primary, the highest percentage of any state. If even a small portion of those choose to vote for a 3rd party presidential candidate, it could be critical in a state like ours, where recent statewide races have been decided by only several hundred votes.
For the full article I wrote for Headline USA, see: Trump Campaign’s Key to Keeping N.C. Red May Be Radical Hamas Supporters
Flagstock: was it the vibe?
Flagstock 2024 - Celebrating UNC's Patriots - rumble livestream
Labor Day concert honors UNC students who defended the American flag on campus - Carolina Journal
Patriotic Frat Bros Kick Off Semester With ‘Flagstock’ Rager As Campuses Brace For Protests - Daily Wire
‘Rager’ for the ‘broleteriat’: UNC frats party at Flagstock, but not all support the event - N&O
Flagstock Promised a ‘Rager.’ It Mostly Left Questions. - The Assembly
Flagstock 2024 draws less than 400 attendees, numbers expected to be in the thousands - Daily Tar Heel
There seems to be quite the ideological divide in media coverage of the concert held to celebrate the "frat bros" who went viral for protecting the American flag from pro-Palestine rioters at UNC.
According to the right wing media, it was a fun, patriotic event; according to the mainstream and left-wing media (but I repeat myself), it was underattended and wasteful of donor funds.
I can't speak to the allocation of funds, but I will note that "concerns" along these lines appear to be coming from the opposite demographic of those who contributed to make this "rager" happen.
Although the concert was enjoyed by Americans across the country via livestream and broadcast, the organizers do appear to have vastly overestimated the interest in the fraternities, sororities, and organizations invited to attend the exclusive event in-person: out of the thousands expected, only a few hundred were reportedly in attendance.
The Why
I believe the mismatch in expectations vs reality likely stems from the mismatch between the narrative promulgated online and in right-wing media as compared to what actually happened that summer day.
After all, every protester who goes out in the street for a cause generally represents a large number of people who are ideologically aligned, but not willing make the step into taking action. A university whose Greek community would be willing to face off the angry crowds of Palestine supporters solely to protect the American flag probably could have filled up a concert along the lines of the anti-left brand of patriotism displayed at Flagstock.
However, as I have reported in this publication both at the time and more recently, many if not most of the "frat bros" were present as Jewish students counter-protesting in support of Israel; many images and video of the "flag defense" show Israeli flags they were also carrying.
However, If we look at the language in the fundraiser which raised over half a million dollars for this event, there is not a single mention of Israel or Jews; instead, the young men are described as merely "American heroes", "triumphant Brohemians", and "the boat-shoed Brolerariat" protecting Old-Glory from "commie losers" and "the unwashed Marxist horde". In addition, the picture used in the fundraiser and in many of the viral posts on the incident was taken from an angle which only captured the American flag, not the Israeli flags being held as well.
This disparity is along the lines what "very liberal" Brendan Rosenblum and his Jewish brothers at Alpha Epsilon Pi expressed in a recent New York Times article, explaining that they opposed the party fundraiser; instead wishing that a "significant portion of the money go to a charity that supports Jewish organizations or relief efforts in Gaza".
(That was impossible, of course, given that the organizers of the fundraiser were bound to use the funds as advertised: which was primarily for a party).
Although I'm sure the organizers could have filled a stadium with for a concert with the "Let's Go Brandon", NASCAR reminiscent, American flag waiving, style of the concert, it appears it was just a bit too far culturally out of line to get a significant attendance from the UNC Greek community.
Appeals court reverses 2022 contempt of court conviction for potential juror who refused mask at Harnett County Courthouse
Appeals Court drops contempt conviction of potential juror who refused to wear mask - Carolina Journal
North Carolina court reverses contempt charge against potential juror who wouldn’t wear mask - AP
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has vindicated Gregory Hahn, who was summarily sentenced to 24 hours in jail on October 10, 2022 for declining to wear a mask in the jury assembly room after being called to the courthouse to potentially serve as a juror.
The Appeals Court found that Hahn "was not a participant in ongoing proceedings in a courtroom" as he was only called in before the judge because of his refusal to wear a mask during jury orientation, and that the trial court erred in finding that Hahn "behaved in a contemptuous manner" when he "respectful[ly]" informed the judge that he would not be wearing a mask.
The ruling also concluded that the Harnett court's mask requirement was "invalid", as the administrative order exceeded the emergency directives issued by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court under NC GS § 7A-39(b)(2)