Wave header image graphic banner
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 88.1 W201AO Greenville 88.5 WHYC Swan Quarter
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Petition calls on sheriff to enforce law after masked Proud Boys show up at school board meeting

Proud Boys walk away from Black Lives Matter Plaza after police officers turned them away from counterprotesters.
(File photo: Dee Dwyer for NPR)
/
Dee Dwyer for NPR
A petition intended to be presented to the New Hanover County Sheriff was started after an extremist group showed up at a school board meeting in hats, masks and sunglasses.

A petition intended to be presented to the New Hanover County Sheriff was started after an extremist group showed up at a school board meeting in hats, masks and sunglasses.

Sponsored by a group called “Citizens for Public Safety in New Hanover County,” the petition is calling upon the sheriff to enforce a North Carolina law put into place to combat public gatherings by the KKK. It was started in response to masked Proud Boys showing up at a school board meeting while the school board voted to change their policy on transgender student-athletes.

The state statute forbids people from concealing their identity on public property in North Carolina.”

An exception was made for public masking for the sake of public health during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The Proud Boys are defined by the SPLC and the ADL as a right-wing extremist group, more specifically a “western Chauvinist” group that is “primarily misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration.”

See the petition HERE.

Annette is originally a Midwest gal, born and raised in Michigan, but with career stops in many surrounding states, the Pacific Northwest, and various parts of the southeast. She has been involved in the media industry in eastern North Carolina for more than three years. An award-winning journalist and mother of four, Annette moved to ENC to be closer to family – in particular, her two young grandchildren. It’s possible that a -27 day with a -68 windchill in Minnesota may have also played a role in that decision. In her spare time, Annette does a lot of toddler and baby cuddling, reading, designing costumes for children’s theater and producing the coolest Halloween costumes anyone has ever seen. She has also worked as a diversity and inclusion facilitator serving school districts and large corporations. It’s the people that make this beautiful area special, and she wants to share those stories that touch the hearts of others. If you have a story idea to share, please reach out by email to westona@cravencc.edu.
Ryan is an Arkansas native and podcast junkie. He was first introduced to public radio during an internship with his hometown NPR station, KUAF. Ryan is a graduate of Tufts University in Somerville, Mass., where he studied political science and led the Tufts Daily, the nation’s smallest independent daily college newspaper. In his spare time, Ryan likes to embroider, attend musicals, and spend time with his fiancée and two cats.