RALEIGH — A North Carolina House bill raising penalties for threats to state officials that now awaits action by the Senate is on the mind of a North Carolina mayor.
House Bill 95 raises the punishment for assaulting state officials from a Class I felony to a Class G felony. The bill has harsher penalties if weapons are used, going from a Class F to a Class D felony, and the penalty rises from Class E to a Class C felony for incidents including serious bodily injury.
The bill aims to give the same protection to county and municipality elected officials that apply to the legislature and Council of State members.
That protection is welcome news to Monroe Mayor Robert Burns, who recently filed a police report for cyberstalking involving a local activist named Kara Murphy.
Burns told North State Journal that he’s also been the target of harassment by a group called “Change for Monroe” and that he is concerned for his physical safety.
In a post on Facebook, Burns wrote that Murphy recorded and took pictures of him and his family having lunch with friends, which she posted to social media along with photos of his car and license plate.
“This is another example of North Carolina Republican elected officials being targeted by the radical left recently, including Judge Jefferson Griffin, Congressman Chuck Edwards and Senator Thom Tillis,” wrote Burns. “Vice President JD Vance was with his toddler and was subjected to harassment. Leftists have also taken pictures of my children and posted in X and harassed them.”
The passage of the measure coincided with Tillis releasing audio of phone calls placed to his offices containing heavily profane language and violent threats. On April 10, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that a man who had made some of the threats to Tillis had pleaded guilty to one count of threatening a federal official.
In the post, Burns called for the harassment to stop and thanked his supporters, telling them he “won’t back down” and will be pressing charges.
Murphy, a transgender woman, responded to commenters on Burns’ post with several profanity-laced replies, including one accusing Burns of starting a “campaign of harassment.”
“You f—–g started a campaign of harassment against me and the lgbtq+ community! Why act like a little b—h now?” Murphy wrote in reply to Burns. “You got recorded in public? So, f—–g what! I’ve been harassed online, in public, at my f—–g home because of the s–t you’ve spread about me online. F–k you dude. You f—–g b—h a—motherf–k.”
In an interview with North State Journal, Burns confirmed he was taking legal action, Murphy had been served notice, and a hearing in his case occurred on April 24.
“Since I got into office, this person posts about me — and I’m not exaggerating — maybe about eight times a day,” Burns said. “And so, it’s been going on for a year over a year now.”
Burns described the situation as “escalating,” with Murphy calling him a “neo-Nazi. “He also spoke of similar harassment of friends, family and local businesses. For those reasons, Burns said he was moving forward with legal remedies because “somebody’s got to be held accountable.”
North State Journal was also informed by Burns that Murphy signed a contract to remove posts dealing with personal information like images of his family, car or license plate. Burns also removed his Facebook post about Murphy’s activities.
The contract overall protects First Amendment criticisms of Burns in his official capacity while balancing a level of private life protection. Burns said he thinks House Bill 95 still needs to be passed to encompass all elected officials because “the municipality doesn’t protect officials” in cases like his.
Monroe is located in Union County, and its town council recently began dismantling its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) committee. Murphy has heavily criticized those activities both online and during town hall meetings.
A March 11 staff memo addressed the county redefining adult entertainment ordinances to “protect minors, and establish a citywide acceptable age for performances and public events.” Adult entertainment included preventing drag shows where minors may be present.
In a March 17 Facebook post, Murphy opposed such a move, referring to the mayor as a “piece of (expletive).” In a separate post the same day, Murphy complained about the DEI committee being dismantled and encouraged people to attend the city council meeting.
Murphy replied to North State Journal’s request for comment in a lengthy Facebook direct message received before being served with Burns’ complaint.
“Robert Burns started his campaign for office targeting the LGBTQ+ community in Monroe. His disdain for us has been palpable and extreme. He has been at our events recording video and taking pictures,” Murphy wrote. “He also shows up with a mob of people carrying signs calling us groomers and pedophiles. He has abused his office as Mayor to control what events happen in public spaces.”
Murphy accused Burns of “abusing his power” and said, “his recent social media posts naming me as someone that is ‘extreme’ or ‘harassing’ him is absolutely laughable given his own actions” and criticized the actions of “those he associates with.”
“What he was really trying to do with his social media posts was to use the threat of police involvement to intimidate his most vocal critic,” Murphy wrote. That is the type of action you would expect of (an) anti-democratic leader, not the Mayor of a diverse city in America.”
