Were international arms trafficking operations happening in Rutherford County, N.C. in plain sight?
A number of legal documents – including several formerly-sealed affidavits from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms – were recently attained by Foothills Catalyst that describe a shocking international weapons trafficking operation that was hiding in plain sight in the middle of Rutherford County. Hundreds of thousands of military grade assault rifles and equipment were being manufactured and shipped from a facility located in the middle of Spindale, N.C. to governments and militias across the world beginning as early as 2011.
As described below, our 2011 local officials, (CHAIRMAN BILL ECKLER, VICE CHAIRMAN JULIUS OWENS, SUSAN CROWE, EDDIE HOLLAND, ROGER RICHARD), quietly approved this operation despite a litany of pending federal criminal investigations involving this operation, and additional federal investigations and criminal charges that followed that were not revealed in public.
LOCAL OFFICIALS WELCOME INTERNATIONAL WEAPONS MANUFACTURING OPERATION
In 2002, Guy Savage formed Sabre Defense Industries LLC in Nashville, TN to manufacture and sell weapons to the United States government, foreign governments, and military groups. By 2011, Sabre was under investigation for illegal arms trafficking to foreign governments (with claims that weapons were being sold to terrorist organizations that were hostile toward the United States and our allies). In an effort to sidestep those investigations and continue with its lucrative arms sales business, Sabre created and transferred all of its assets to two other companies, i.e., Manroy USA, LLC and Diamond Tactical LLLP.
As this was happening, Manroy entered into discussions with local officials in Rutherford County and Spindale who authorized Manroy to establish – and fund – a new manufacturing plant at 159 Yelton Street, Spindale, NC to facilitate Manroy (and some of Diamondback’s) operations.
In a 2011 press release from the Rutherford County Economic Development Commission, local officials described the level of involvement the county would have in the training, staffing, and recruitment to support this project:
“Diamondback Tactical is moving its manufacturing business within Rutherford County, making way for Manroy USA to occupy the Yelton Street building.
Manroy USA bought the plant in Spindale in August, and company officials want to be in Rutherford County in early fall to start doing business. Diamondback was leasing the building on Yelton Street.”
“Diamondback officials will work with Isothermal Community College and Isothermal Planning Development Commission’s workforce program to train and recruit workers. Applications for the jobs at Diamondback are being received at the plant in Spindale and through the Employment Security Commission on Trade Street in Forest City.”
Initially, Manroy had received authorization from both the President of the United States and the Department of Defense to conduct its operations. However, in 2013, the U.S. government withdrew permission for Manroy to sell weapons to several countries, such as Bahrain and East Timor, stating that “it is not in the Foreign Policy/National Security Interests of the USG to approve this license at this time.” Instead of complying, Manroy continued selling weapons to those countries (along with other countries and individuals), but attempted to conceal their actions.
Although those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, Rutherford County officials continued investing significant tax dollars into promoting and expanding Manroy’s business operations.
FEDERAL AGENTS DISCOVERY AND PROSECUTE INDIVIDUALS FOR INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRAFFICKING OPERATION IN SPINDALE
By late 2013, multiple federal law enforcement agencies were surveilling Manroy, its owners, and its employees. In doing so, agents quickly discovered that Manroy was unlawfully trafficking weapons to hostile countries (and militia groups) and attempting to conceal these actions and avoid prosecution by utilizing many of the same tactics that had been employed by Sabre in Nashville. Those efforts involved, for example, fabricating and destroying records, selling entire weapons in a disassembled form in an attempt to skirt laws and regulations, creating new entities to make the sales (which county officials also promoted through various means, including financial assistance), etc.
By 2015, federal prosecutors began filing criminal charges for illegal arms trafficking against a tremendous number of individuals across the country and locally, including individuals who worked in the Spindale plant and the county. Some of those charges resulted in quick convictions, while others took until the early 2020s to conclude.
The unlawful activities and criminal charges that followed resulted in the closure and asset liquidation of Sabre, Manroy, and several large international weapons manufacturers that made waves throughout the entire arms industry.
MANY QUESTIONS, BUT FEW ANSWERS
While there are many facets of this story, one of the most puzzling aspects is how weapons were being manufactured in and unlawfully trafficked from Spindale to governments and militia groups across the world with virtually no one in Rutherford County having any knowledge of what was occurring. An equally concerning question is whether our local officials were aware of the federal investigations and unlawful activities involved with Sabre before agreeing to assist Manroy in setting up their operations in Spindale, and whether (and when) they knew that these same activities occurred here.
Perhaps the most important question, however, is what capital investments, tax breaks, and other incentives were provided by our local government, and what financial costs were incurred by the county and its citizens, to fund this unlawful operation.
Because no reference has been found to date on this situation in any of the past County Commission’s minutes, these questions remain unanswered. However, in light of the current Commissioners’ recent (and puzzling) insistence that Rutherford County is unable or unwilling to fund a growing list of basic services needed by the community, this past situation (along with the substantial financial investments associated with it) raises serious concerns regarding transparency that must be explained. Given the magnitude of what transpired – and never disclosed – here, it is difficult to envision any realistic way to understand the state of our county’s finances, the candor of our current representatives, or to have any hope of rebuilding trust in our elected officials without initiating a full and independent audit.
Additionally, the funding of our Economic Development Commission should be scrutinized.
Until then, Foothills Catalyst will report on additional information regarding these matters as it becomes available.
Two instances have popped up on social media concerning Rutherford County students this week. The one at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy made WLOS write an article about it (click here) and the other concerning RS Central has not made news yet as the parties were told not to say anything about it to anyone by the school administrators.
Charges may be pending on the RS Central situation. We are waiting to hear on that one. The mother of the student at TJCA is very upset at how the school has handled the situation and has pulled her child out.
This is not a column to necessarily place blame on anyone but for years we have embraced a “zero tolerance” policy in Rutherford County concerning touching students or placing them in uncomfortable potentially sexual situations.
The TJCA incident seems to have involved very young students aged six (6) on the bus. According to the mother’s statements the school did not seem to believe her son or his sister who witnessed the event but dismissed the incident as “boys being boys” and that they were just “playing around”. They told the mother they would move the boys seat assignments on the bus.
Is that really settling an example for the children involved or the other children watching this? They are very young and must learn, but the lesson should be deep and meaningful. If in fact they have a zero tolerance policy then it must be enforced.
Take them off the bus for a week. Parents must bring them to school. Have counseling sessions as to why this is not tolerated. Have a “no touching” message addressed to all students. Do Not punish the “victim” for telling.
Yes, they are young children. No, law enforcement does not need to be brought into this but all the parents need to be counseled along with the children. Use this as a teaching example to all.
Now the incident at RS Central seems to be quite a bit more serious but it does seem as if school officials are leaning more towards tolerance than zero in this case. It has not been that long since the ROTC scandal happened and that too was swept under the rug. If charges are pressed it remains to be seen if DA Bell will take them seriously.
Regardless of what happens with law enforcement or the court system in these incidents the administrators of the school systems in Rutherford County need to decide what their stance is on these things and then stand by it. Our children deserve to know about accountability and responsibility not only for themselves but also for the adults that govern their lives.
SBI misconduct points to yet another sex scandal in District Attorney Ted Bell’s office. One can hardly forget the actions of
D.A.Ted Bell with Judge Randy Pool
former judge Randy Pool, the allegations of Bell’s ongoing relationship with a deputy clerk of court, and a rumored new entanglement with one of his employees. Yet sexual scandals in the courthouse aren’t limited to just those, anymore it seems.
In recent court filings obtained at the McDowell Courthouse, SBI Agent Randy Wood – a long-time married man, is accused of engaging in similar unlawful actions against several women as well as engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a prosecuting attorney in District Attorney Ted Bell’s office.
SBI Agent Randy Wood (contributed photo)
On June 1, 2023, the first Wood case, thefemale victim (who will not be named due to the conduct at issue) submitted a Complaint and Motion for Domestic Violence Protective Order making the following claims:
“[Agent] Randy Wood text me asking if I was good. I called him to discuss a stalker situation that I had for months. He chuckled and asked if I was surprised. I said uh yes and I’m beginning to not feel safe because they are coming right up to the house! He explained that he had handled it and that he was always watching from afar. I asked him what that meant. He laughed and said I will always keep you safe and I’m always watching you. How are you always watching I asked?? He then said he had his resources. Curious I had to have more info. He said he had to go and would call me tomorrow. I asked him to come over and tell me more about this watching from afar.”
Agent Wood’s behavior allegedly became more troubling from there.
The court granted the victim’s request for a no-contact order against Agent Wood that continues in effect as of the date of this writing.
In a June 5, 2023 Complaint and Motion for Domestic Violence Protective Order, a second female victim (who will also not be named due to the conduct at issue) requested a protective order against Agent Wood based on the following allegations:
“On Saturday June 3 Randy wanted to take [unidentified individuals] out on the boat. Due to a change in his behavior, I said no and things escalated. Randy has been doing drugs, alcohol, stopped taking his meds for his mental issues and because of that me and [unidentified individuals] are afraid of what he’s capable. Randy is currently under investigation with the SBI which he blames me for and will text [unidentified individuals] calling me ‘a dirty mothe*****er’ trying to get them on his side. Randy has placed me in fear of harm due to his unpredictable state. He has a history of aggression, narcissistic behavior, and mental instability.”
The court granted the second victim a no-contact order against Agent Wood as well, and, on June 9, 2023, issued a second order keeping the no-contact order in place based on finding “threats of continued harassment” by Agent Wood. That order is also in effect as of this writing.
In its second order, the Court also noted that this matter is tracking [the two other domestic violence cases] and that “Defendant was served. Defendant is in rehab in Florida.”
DA Ted Bell swearing in Asst DA Cydney Joyner (contributed photo)
Most concerning, however, is that multiple individuals working at the courthouse (speaking on condition of anonymity) have alleged that Assistant District Attorney Cydney Joyner entered into a sexual relationship with Agent Wood prior to these incidents and, after the two victims above filed their complaints, drove Agent Wood to the rehab facility in Florida. And when a file concerning Wood went missing in the clerk’s office it was found in ADA Joyner’s possession.
Those same sources uniformly represented that D.A. Bell has been aware of this situation (as well as other improprieties that these individuals have not yet authorized Foothills Catalyst to disclose) for quite some time.
Despite the conflicts of interest, potential interference with legal proceedings, and appearance of impropriety created by an undisclosed sexual relationship between a prosecutor and law enforcement officer, D.A. Bell has not suspended Attorney Joyner or placed her on leave pending an investigation into these issues.
In fact, because of his refusal to comment on this matter, there is no indication that DA Bell has launched and/or requested any investigation (much less an independent investigation) or taken steps to preserve evidence regarding Attorney Joyner’s alleged actions.
Unfortunately, with history as a guide, D.A. Bell’s extraordinary efforts to shield former-Chief District Court Judge Randy Pool from similar misconduct provides little reason to believe that he will address this matter with any greater level of candor, transparency, or fidelity to ethical mandates that should govern his handling of this situation.
Regardless of whether District Attorney Bell does so, however, we will continue reporting on this matter as it develops.
An amended complaint by the former workers at NC trucking company Freightworks LLC was filed Monday in federal court. The original complaint was filed March 23, 2023. The former workers allege they were not given advance warning of Freightwork’s closing and were not compensated under the WARN Act.
Named plaintiffs Martin Oshea and Misty Chapman in a proposed class action suit state the workers should have been given at least a 60 days notice to the company closing. Freightworks LLC shut down on March 6, 2023. Employees received a letter from human resources two days later confirming the end of their employment as of March 6.
After the March 23 fiing Freightworks C offered $1500 to laid off employees in exchange for the release of any claims they had under the WARN Act.
Workers are seeking class certification and are demanding unpaid wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, accrued holiday and vacation pay, pension and 401(k) contributions and other ERISA benefits for the 60 days after they were laid off.
The case will be heard in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Due to a tremendous amount of erroneus information on the valuation, tax, credit and appeals processes presented on social media and to honor their commitment to serve the people of Rutherford County, the commissioners had called a special meeting with appropriate experts to answer citizens’ concerns over their new property revaluations. Over 1000 property owners have already filed appeals to the assessments citing improbable increases as much as 100%.
At last Thursday’s special called Rutherford County Commissioners’ meeting, the commissioners opened the meeting with a list of emailed, texted and personally received questions and had the appropriate personnel respond.
Then Chairman Bryan King opened the floor to individual’s questions that had yet to be answered. He dispensed with the usual formality of a sign-up sheet to remove a perceived barrier to speaking up. Many of the presenters spoke of their objection in a manner of a personal appeal. The tax assesser responded by asking them to come talk with him about their individual situations. They also had the option to file an appeal.
The Commissioners, along with the Rutherford County Attorney Richard Williams, explained that Rutherford County is mandated by law as to how it conducts property revaluations, the creates a budget, sets the tax rate, and collects taxes.
Per statute, the county is required to conduct a property revaluation at least every eight years. Due to rapidly esculating property valuations in the second home market in the real estate bubble in the 2005-2008 period, the County opted to conduct revaluations on a four-year cycle to head off drastic valuation changes.
However, this year’s property revaluation shocked many property owners. The pandemic and its effect on the real estate market is felt throughout many counties across North Carolina who have also conducted revaluations this year.
No new tax rate has been set as the requred “revenue neutral” is dependent on the annual county budget.
“We have to operate within the law,” Commission Chairman Bryan King said. “For us to suspend this new valuation, we must have permission from the state legislature.”
The Commissioners resolved to request that our elected legislators pass a bill allowing the County the power to use the existing property valuation of 2019 instead of the 2023-2024 fiscal year revaluation numbers.
The commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the resolution. Should the legislature approve the delegation of power to the counties, other NC counties may also take advantage of the revaluation set aside.
King said state officials have indicated they will move quickly on the legislative request.
Commissioners also noted the rogue GOP members’ orchestrated movement to spread disinformation regarding the property valuation and county tax rate. (See related article.)
“I have seen too much disinformation, and lies,” said Commissioner Alan Toney. “We don’t need this to be happening. We need to be working together. I don’t want my taxes to increase either, but we need your support, not more division.”
The meeting attendees seemed reassured by the factual information presented.
Officials hope to hear back from the state on this new valuation set aside within a few weeks.
FreightWorks Transportation & Logistics (FreightWorks), an asset-based truckload carrier, is a small family-owned business headed by President and CEO Joshua Farmer in Rutherford County, NC. While the company began with one used truck in 2012, FreightWorks had well over 100 trucks when they recently moved to their new facility at 668 Poors Ford Road in Rutherfordton. Their business has focused on a unique industry niche: hazmat, high-security, and temperature-controlled freight.
Like many other businesses, FreightWorks has found and overcome numerous challenges. During the last few years, the business faced new issues like Covid-19 absences and restrictions, the rise of inflation which increased costs, and now major customers who are also dealing with similar issues, are requesting concessions in shipping rates.
Local sources have reported that FreightWorks told employees of their decision to close on Monday and sent a video message to all their drivers. Operations are expected to cease on Friday.
The company has not yet released information publicly on their closure.
Stock Proceeds and Dividends Associated with Old Insurance Policy Found in NCCash.com
RALEIGH, NC
State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, a staunch advocate of public education who strongly supports the work of classroom teachers, showed up at the State Board of Education (SBE) meeting today with a check for the Department of Public Instruction exceeding a half-million dollars in misdirected funds that were placed with the Department of State Treasurer (DST) for safekeeping.
Treasurer Folwell presented a check for $519,029.16 to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt.
The money resulted from shares of stock issued in the name of “Department of Education State of North Carolina” based on a Prudential Financial group life insurance plan that SBE held at some point. Upon the shares and accrued dividends being deemed unclaimed and held by Prudential for the required holding period, the property was placed with DST’s Unclaimed Property Division (UPD), commonly called NCCash.com.
“At a time when so many schools are in need of money and resources, especially in rural and inner-city districts, every penny found to further North Carolina’s educational mission is a blessing,” said Treasurer Folwell. “I see that need not only as a member of SBE, but as chairman of the Local Government Commission, which reviews and approves financing for school projects throughout North Carolina.”
“As keeper of the public purse, a North Carolina taxpayer and a believer in the power of education to change a person’s trajectory in life to achieve upward mobility and the joy of achievement, I am honored to return this money to its rightful owners so that it can be put to use where it’s most needed,” Treasurer Folwell said.
The money originated from a process called demutualization. That occurs when a private business, owned by its members, such as a mutual life insurance company, changes its structure to a public-traded company owned by stockholders.
Prudential went through that transition in 2001, and policy holders at the time became shareholders, with or without the policy holder’s knowledge. Prudential Financial shares were issued in the name and address on file for the policy. Any correspondences related to the shares were being sent to a previous address of SBE. In 2012, the shares and any accrued unclaimed dividends were deemed unclaimed and subsequently reported to DST in October 2015 after the required three-year dormancy holding period. During a recent review of data in the system, UPD staff identified these funds.
UPD paid 178,857 claims amounting to more than $105 million during the 2022 fiscal year that ended June 30. Both numbers were historical records. The returns are on pace to set another record this fiscal year. Through Nov. 30, UPD has paid 74,979 claims totaling just over $44 million from NCCash. Part of that total has been disbursed through the NCCash Match program, a no-hassle, expedited system that eliminated paperwork processing. As of Nov. 30, DST paid 44,200 Cash Match claims totaling nearly $12.6 million.
Under state law, UPD receives and safeguards funds that are escheated, or turned over, to DST. The unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.
Unclaimed property can result from a person or entity forgetting they are due money, or from a move of location and forgetting to provide a new address. It also could result from a typing error in a house number or zip code in an address, a name change, or data loss from a business converting its computer system. As society becomes more mobile and steadily moves to electronic transactions, the risk of having unclaimed property has increased.
More information, including how to find out if you are owed money, can be found at https://www.nccash.com/.
Treasurer Folwell (left) presents the check to Catherine Truitt, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Eric C. Davis, State Board of Education Chairman.
Rutherford Regional Health System (RRHS), a Duke LifePoint hospital, has named Tory Shepherd its chief executive officer (CEO). Shepherd has served as interim CEO at RRHS since September. She will begin her tenure as CEO immediately.
“We are excited for Tory to continue her journey at Rutherford Regional,” said Jamie Carter, Eastern Division President of Lifepoint Health. “Tory’s experience on both the clinical and operational sides of healthcare has given her a unique perspective. She has a track record of championing quality care, engaging physicians, advocating for staff and patients, and being a great partner to her communities. We are confident that she is the right person to bring Rutherford Regional into the future.”
Shepherd join RRHS from Sovah Health-Martinsville, a Lifepoint facility in Virginia. She served as interim chief executive officer and chief operating officer at the Martinsville hospital, leading the recruitment of new physicians and expanding key services. Prior to joining Sovah Health’s administrative team, Shepherd was director of cardiopulmonary neurophysiology services and a cardiopulmonary coordinator and respiratory therapist.
“Tory has been a great addition to Rutherford Regional, and we are excited to see where she will lead this hospital,” said Jackie Godlock, chair of the Rutherford Regional Health System Board of Trustees. “This decision to make her a permanent fixture on our leadership team and in this community was an easy one. Tory has shown a great commitment to our patients, physicians and employees in her time here, and we are looking forward to working alongside her to expand RRHS’ services to meet the evolving needs of our region.”
Shepherd holds a bachelor’s degree in health science from Old Dominion University and earned her Master of Business Administration from Averett University in Danville. She is a licensed registered respiratory therapist and certified cardiovascular care coordinator and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
“I am incredibly honored and excited to have the opportunity to stay here in Rutherfordton and grow with this team and our community,” said Shepherd. “I’m excited to continue to work with our hospital leadership, providers and staff to explore new ways that we can make a difference in the lives of those we serve.”
No judge or clerk of court ever accused, charged or convicted lawyers Krinn Evans or Andrew LaBreche before recusing to hear their cases. These elected court officials just refused to hear cases without explanation.
That is until listed in LaBreche’s law suit as their being upset as to RC Catalyst’s articles on the airport, drug smuggling, and officials’ protection of former Judge Randy Pool’s sexual exploitations- which neither Evans or LaBreche wrote.
After over a year of keeping my mouth shut, it seems imperative for me as the author to speak out now. While I prefer a private life there are legal reasons I have chosen to reveal that I had a stroke that affected my eyesight and memory. After essentially being functionally blinded for a time and struggling with word recognition software to perform my work, the Word of Faith Fellowship offered to pray for me.
My sight got better.
However, the stroke after effects made it extremely difficult for me to read and particularly edit. During this time, since I was writing about legal issues (I am not a lawyer) I asked two attorneys and two friends to review and edit my stories on the Van Buskirk and Judicial Council stories to ensure accuracy.
I have spent over ten years sitting in court, observing trials, asking lawyers questions and reviewing criminal court files. (Remember the 2016 Matthew Fenner cases that still remain untried!) While I understand a lot of what is going on in court proceedings, I rely on experts to ensure the truth gets out in print.
During my stroke recovery time, I was still collecting information about the RC Airport, local drug smuggling, former judge Randy Pool and actions by our local judicial officials to protect him.
Despite my history of being in the courtroom, collecting legal documentation, consulting local attorneys and writing trial and criminal stories, the courthouse rumor mill began speculation as to who had actually written those articles.
Now ghostwriting is not a crime and not the case here, rumors were fueled by a former friend who reported that attorneys Krinn Evans and Andrew LaBreche were behind the writing. (This friend later called me and demanded to be listed on the byline as co-author since she had reviewed an early draft.)
Shortly thereafter most of the judges and clerks of court recused from hearing cases by Evans and LaBreche.
This informant also described a small group of people (that she was once a part of) were planning on stalking the Judicial Council members’ homes to verify their meeting at a member’s home and she supposedly provided names and/or phone numbers of the supposed participants who were to drive by their houses to see if their cars were there.
One of the judges later alleged that a criminal investigation was conducted into this “stalking” matter. Unfounded rumors were circulated on Facebook and through courthouse gossip. However no member of that rumored “stalking” group was ever questioned.
Later it was found that a phone number of a participant had been misidentified as being Krinn Evans’ and eventually the recusals were withdrawn from Evans’ cases.
As a member of those “stalking” participants, I can verify that Krinn Evans had NOTHING to do with any conversations over the Judicial Council meeting.
Yet I am still waiting to see a public apology to Mr. Evans for the judges attempt to destroy Mr. Evans’ reputation and professional law firm.
As to Mr. LaBreche, he has filed a lawsuit which was initially denied by the court and is now being appealed in order to have his recusals removed here.
LaBreche’s lawsuit also states:
an overly broad search warrant was signed by Judge Tommy Davis to seize electronic communication of a bondsman that contained privileged lawyer-client information with LaBreche
law enforcement was informed of this legally protected lawyer-client, but the info was read and widely distributed
the Judicial Council was violating public meeting laws
his Constitutional rights were violated.
Meanwhile, who is watching these justices who accused, judged, and convicted two attorneys without even informing them of the reason for their recusals?
Gary Miller, field director for the American Renewal Project. (Photo by Joe Killian)
Recent church-based events test IRS rules, court allegations of Christian nationalism
Gary Miller has a little story he likes to tell about religion and politics.
While serving as pastor at a church years ago, he was frustrated by how long it took to get a building permit. So he ran for city council — and lost by one vote.
“I came back to my people Sunday morning,” Miller told a crowd earlier this month at Cross Assembly church in Raleigh. “And I said, ‘I’d like for everyone who voted for me to please stand’. And those that remained seated, I handed out voter registration cards.”
“I’m not pastor of that church anymore,” he said. “I wouldn’t suggest that you do that.”
The crowd of about 100 at Cross Assembly erupted in laughter.
“But we did get our building built,” Miller said. “And I won the next election.”
The anecdote would be unusual for a Sunday morning sermon. But the event at Cross Assembly wasn’t a Sunday service. Miller, now field director for the American Renewal Project, was addressing pastors at one of the many private church events his group has been holding all across the state and country.
The goal: Recruit conservative evangelical Christians to run for office in order to bring government — local, state and national — in line with their religious principles.
Dr. Michael Bitzer, Catawba College
Though held in churches, the Renewal Project’s recent events more closely resemble GOP political rallies. That includes campaign ads for Republican candidates, explicit endorsements of specific Republicans on the ballot this year, and a special message from former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a politician known more for his bare-knuckle brand of conservative politics than his religious convictions.
“It goes back to the Reagan coalition of the modern Republican party,” said Michael Bitzer, professor of history and political science at Catawba College. “Social conservatives got their oats really fed into the Republican dynamic. Republican candidates sought them out, sought to bring in evangelicals.”
The Renewal Project is being embraced by the GOP mainstream that once held it at arm’s length. Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, spoke at two recent Renewal Project events — including the gathering at Cross Assembly in Raleigh.
Whatley was clear about the Renewal Project’s appeal to Republicans in the state.
“You know, half of evangelicals in North Carolina are not even registered to vote,” Whatley told the gathered pastors in the worship hall.
“Think about it,” Whatley said. “You know how to speak in public. You’re great at herding cats. God knows you know how to raise money. You’re perfect candidates!”
Christian citizenship or Christian nationalism?
Many churches once stayed out of politics completely, Bitzer, the Catawba College professor said. At most, pastors distributed literature summing up candidates and their positions with a wink and a nod toward the person everyone knew they preferred. But more overt partisanship — even of the type churches once worried would endanger their tax-exempt status — is becoming more common, he said.
“They’re seeing their power potentially evaporate,” Bitzer said. “They want to hold on to it. And to do so, they need to instill some of their Christian beliefs and values into government policy, going up against the First Amendment and [promoting] the issue of free exercise but [not] the separation of church and state.”
The American Renewal Project, and the candidates it recruits and trains, fiercely reject the notion of a separation between church and state.
“There’s no truth to that,” the group’s founder, David Lane, told the Washington Times of any such separation at the project’s launch in 2014. “The Constitution says the state is to keep out of the church, it doesn’t say the church is to keep out of the state.”
The establishment clause of the Constitution’s First Amendment also prohibits the government from acting in a way that unduly favors one religion over another or gives preference to religion over non-religion — and vice versa.
Lane is frank about encouraging pastors to run for office in the hope they will push the government to prioritize and promote Christianity. The project’s goal, as stated by Lane, is to “engage the church in a culture war for religious liberty, to restore America to our Judeo-Christian heritage and to re-establish a Christian culture.”
Lane made no mention of what that would mean for non-Christian children who attend public schools. Policy Watch reached out to him through the American Renewal Project to ask, but calls and emails weren’t returned.
Extending his religious war metaphor, Lane called for divine punishment for political opponents. “The message to our federal representatives and senators?” Lane wrote. “Vote to restore the Bible and prayer in public schools or be sent home. Hanging political scalps on the wall is the only love language politicians can hear.
“One of these days some nobody – yet conversant and skilled in the Word – will call for religious liberty by reintroducing the Bible, Jesus, the Ten Commandments and honoring God at commencements in the public schools of America,” Lane wrote. “Then we will watch Providence call for ‘punishment executed by angels’ to those who oppose His Word.”
The national group’s state chapter, the North Carolina Renewal Project, has connected with powerful in-state political allies — including former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and his successor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. The spiritual warfare rhetoric regularly espoused by those two Republican politicians fits well into the Renewal Project’s worldview — including animosity toward the LGBTQ community and calls for Christianity to be central to public life, particularly in schools.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is a frequent featured speaker at Renewal Project events. (Photo: Joe Killian)
Both Forest and Robinson have won popularity with the evangelical church crowds to whom they spoke on behalf of the Renewal Project. A common theme: an America brought low by its racial, cultural and religious diversity and whose only salvation lies in Christian assimilation.
“No other nation, my friends, has ever survived the diversity and multiculturalism that America faces today, because of a lack of assimilation, because of this division, and because of this identity politics,” Forest told a crowd at a 2019 “Celebrate America Service” at the Cornerstone Church in Salisbury. “But no other nation has ever been founded on the principles of Jesus Christ, that begin the redemption and reconciliation through the atoning blood of our savior.”
Robinson was even more explicit last year in a speech to the North Carolina Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Salt & Light Conference.”
Those who don’t believe the United States is a Christian nation that should be governed on Biblical principles should leave, Robinson said. That’s a group that includes tens of millions of non-Christian Americans, in addition to Christians who embrace a separation of church and state.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll buy your plane, train or automobile ticket right up out of here,” Robinson said. “You can go to some place that is not a Christian nation.”
Robinson recently returned to that theme during a Sept. 26 speech at Calvary Chapel Lake Norman church in Statesville, condemning those who don’t believe America to be a Christian nation as ignorant of the founders’ intentions.
“Without God there is no United States of America,” Robinson said.
Robinson criticized the “weakness” he said he sees in many Christian churches, calling out megachurch pastors Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes by name. He also lamented that most Christians today don’t have the courage to publicly condemn transgender athletes at sporting events or threaten to forcibly remove books they believe “promote sin to children” from public libraries.
“Christians nowadays don’t want to be right. They don’t want to do God’s will,” Robinson said. “They want to be liked.”
Political experts say calls for Christians to publicly force their religious taboos and doctrines on those who do not share their faith is the definition of Christian nationalism.
That’s a charge to which the leaders of the Renewal Project are sensitive.
“This is an issue of Christian citizenship that we’re talking about,” said Gary Miller, the project’s field director, at the Cross Assembly event. “We’re not talking about Christian nationalism. You’re going to be bullied out of the public square by people who accuse you of Christian nationalism if you simply encourage people to vote. Don’t let them do that to you. This is Christian citizenship.”
Christian Nationalism and Christian Identity
Christian nationalism’s appeal has been among the subjects examined by polling at South Carolina’s Winthrop University for several years. The university’s latest Southern Focus Survey, which polled 2,275 people in 11 southern states, including North Carolina, posed a series of questions about religion, government and the separation between the two.The poll found 47% of respondents opposed the idea of the government declaring the U.S. a Christian nation. Just 27% said they would agree with such a declaration, while 26% said they were undecided.
Asked whether the federal government should promote Christian values, 37% said it should, 38% said it shouldn’t, and a quarter said they were undecided.
Forty-nine percent of respondents said the government should enforce a strict separation between church and state. Just 24% disagreed, while 26% said they were undecided.
Last year, the Pew Research Center found self-identified Christians make up 63% of the U.S. population – down from 75% a decade ago.
When asked to self-identify, about three in 10 U.S. adults surveyed said they were atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular.”
Encouraging people to vote is one thing, state political experts told Policy Watch. Churches across the country and the political spectrum do that.
“Saying that your politics are informed by your religion, that you have a strong religious faith or you are religiously inspired, that’s being a Christian citizen,” said Chris Cooper, professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Western Carolina University and director of the Public Policy Institute.
Dr. Chris Cooper, WCU
“We see churches getting involved in getting out the vote all the time,” Cooper said. “We saw it with ‘Souls to the Polls’ and Raphael Warnock, pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, one of the most storied Black churches in America, becoming a Senator from Georgia.”
But the Renewal Project’s rhetoric appears to go well beyond that, Cooper said.
“Saying that we need to have a Christian nation, that our nation should be about Christianity, to promote and enforce Christian values to the exclusion of other religions, that’s the difference,” Cooper said. “That’s Christian nationalism.”
Bending the rules, intentionally
Mark Chaves teaches at Duke University’s Divinity School, specializing in sociology of religion.
In 2020 he co-authored “The Political Mobilization of America’s Congregations,” a study of how churches involve themselves in the political process — and how they’d like to.
Internal Revenue Service rules prohibit churches with tax exempt status from making explicit endorsements of specific candidates, advertising for them, or holding rallies for just one candidate in competitive races.
But some do it anyway, Chaves said — or come as close as they think they can.
“If there are any cases where the IRS is actually going after churches over this, it’s very few,” Chaves said. “It’s pretty low risk at the moment, even if it blatantly violates the tax rules.”
Mark Chaves, Duke University
Part of that, Chaves said, is that some churches — particularly those on the political right — would like the IRS to come after them, which would play into their claims that they face government persecution.
“They would love the attention,” Chaves said.
Still, the number of churches doing outright endorsements appears to be small — just 4% in the national congregation survey that Chaves documented.
“These results probably under-estimate the true prevalence, since we suspect that some congregations and clergy endorsing candidates were not comfortable saying they did so when asked about it,” Chaves wrote in the paper. “Still, it seems that only a small minority of American clergy and congregations have risked IRS sanctions to engage in this sort of explicitly partisan political activity.”
In general, Republican presidents, including former President Donald Trump, have advocated for relaxing or eliminating those tax laws. But there’s an irony in that, Chaves said.
“We found there’s actually a higher percentage of interest in doing endorsements on the left — among churches that identify as leaning liberal and especially Black churches — than on the right,” Chaves said. “The right is just being much more proactive about what they’re doing now.”
Also, Chaves said, there are more total churches that identify as conservative than liberal. Republican party leaders in North Carolina are counting on that as they appear across the state at American Renewal Project events, registering voters and putting their candidates before them.
“There does seem to be an increased politicization of churches and I think that contributes to the polarization we’re seeing in the society, the sorting that we’re seeing in various ways,” Chaves. “People are sorting themselves into churches based on their politics more than before.”
From pulpits to the mainstream?
Fiery religious rhetoric might charge up evangelical Christians and even get them to the polls. But so far it hasn’t led to the political advantages some of the project’s closest allies have sought.
Forest failed to unseat Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, last year.
Two congressmen celebrated by the Renewal Project, Madison Cawthorn and Mark Walker, recently lost GOP primaries to less explicitly religious Republicans.
Robinson had strong ties to Walker since early in Robinson’s political career. But Robinson wound up following the lead of former President Donald Trump and backing Ted Budd in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.
Robinson has also been dogged by criticism of his frequent homophobic and anti-transgender remarks, many of them made from the pulpits of churches across the state. Last year, Robinson faced calls for resignation after telling a church in Seagrove “There’s no reason anybody anywhere in America should be telling any child about transgenderism, homosexuality, any of that filth.”
Robinson later attempted to partially walk back the remarks. He said he was talking about specific books – which he had not mentioned in the speech — and not LGBTQ people in general, whose rights he pledged to protect as lieutenant governor.
“These [heterosexual] people are superior because they can do something these people can’t do,” he said. “Because that’s the way God created it to be. And I’m tired of this society trying to tell me it’s not so.”
“At this point, he’s saying things that need to be said about the culture,” Lane said in the video. “And he said the people who are bringing homosexuality, transgenderism and that kind of filth to public education, that’s going to stop. From the evangelical standpoint and the pro-life Catholic standpoint, that’s music to our ears.”
Winning a GOP primary or a race for a safe Republican seat is clearly possible with that sort of rhetoric. But political experts in the state say it’s less clear whether the conservative churches to whom it appeals can turn a statewide gubernatorial race or a close race for a Senate seat.
“In our data, we don’t see a great silent majority of churches that are looking to get more overtly political,” said Chavez, the Duke sociologist. “But mobilization can make a difference. Maybe they can change that.”
any investigation (much less an independent investigation) or taken steps to preserve evidence regarding Attorney Joyner’s alleged actions.
