Woodhouse: "This is a
horrific, horrific act of political terrorism.”
Pat McCrory: "Firebombing ‘an attack on democracy’"
The Orange County Republican Party headquarters was
firebombed overnight Saturday and graffiti was spray-painted nearby in an
attack that the GOP called “political terrorism.”
NC GOP leader Dallas Woodhouse says a Molotov cocktail
was thrown through the window of the Hillsborough offices.
Gov. Pat McCrory Sunday called the weekend firebombing of
a North Carolina Republican headquarters “an attack on our democracy,” while
one GOP official called it an act of “political terrorism.”
In a tweet, Republican presidential candidate Donald
Trump blamed “Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina.”
Hillsborough police said somebody threw a bottle of
flammable liquid through the window of Orange County’s GOP headquarters,
setting campaign signs, supplies and furniture ablaze before burning itself
out.
A swastika and “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else”
were spray painted on the side of an adjacent building. No damage estimates
were available.
“The firebombing of a local political headquarters in
Orange County is clearly an attack on our democracy,” McCrory said in a
statement. “Violence has no place in our society – but especially in our
elections. … I will use every resource as governor to assist local authorities
in this investigation.”
Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens said, “This highly
disturbing act goes far beyond vandalizing property; it willfully threatens our
community’s safety … and its hateful message undermines decency, respect and
integrity in civic participation.”
Hillsborough police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were continuing to investigate. The incident
took place in Orange County, home of the University of North Carolina in nearby
Chapel Hill.
The county is overwhelmingly Democratic. Democrats and
independents outnumber Republicans 5-1.
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Patsy Keever called
the bombing “outrageous.”
“The North Carolina Democratic Party strongly condemns
this attack,” she said. “Violence has no place in our political system. … Our
deepest sympathies are with everyone at the North Carolina Republican Party.”
Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper tweeted, “Violence
has no place in our democracy and can not be tolerated. The culprits must be
caught and brought to justice.”
Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the state GOP,
called the bombing “political terrorism.”
“The office itself is a total loss,” he said. “The only
thing important to us is that nobody was killed, and they very well could have
been.”
Later, Woodhouse said, “Whether you are Republican,
Democrat or Independent, all Americans should be outraged by this hate-filled
and violent attack against our democracy. … Everyone in this country should be
free to express their political viewpoints without fear for their own safety.”
The flaming bottle, which Woodhouse described as a
significant Molotov cocktail, and bomb, was thrown through a window that bore
the words “Freedom spoken here.”
“This is a horrific, horrific act of political terrorism,
one that we will not succumb to and one that we will answer,” he said. “When
people try to stifle freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, you must come
back with more speech and aggressively defend your rights.”
Woodhouse also mentioned the graffiti that said “Nazi
Republicans leave town or else.”
“Or else what? That is what we all wonder, or else what,”
he said. “Because we’re not going anywhere.”
Woodhouse said a van had already been brought in from
Durham, and campaigners would go back to work in the heavily Democratic county.
Volunteer Bob Randall was there to clean up Sunday. He
said he believes that the bombing was an act of political terrorism and that it
would get people angry and motivated to vote Republican.
“The idea is to intimidate us, to make us crawl back in
the shadows,” he said. “But I think it’s going to backfire on them.”
The incident comes barely three weeks before an election marked
by heightened tensions and passion on both sides.
On Sunday the Bangor Daily News reported that about 20
cars were vandalized with spray paint outside a Saturday rally for GOP
presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Earlier this year violence broke out with protesters at a
Trump rally in Chicago. And one protester was sucker-punched at a Trump rally
in Fayetteville.
“You hope (the firebombing) is an isolated incident,”
said Ferrel Guillory, a political analyst at UNC Chapel Hill. “It always
happens that toward the end of the campaign, emotions get both frayed and
intensified.”
The Rev. William J. Barber, president of the North
Carolina NAACP, condemned the act. Barber told the Associated Press, “While
vigorous debate on issues is acceptable, we in the NAACP denounce any kind of
violence that is perpetrated toward our citizens or any political party.”
Woodhouse said he’s sending an advisory to county
Republican offices across the state warning them to take extra caution.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police
department’s tip line at 919-732-3975.
