Free Republic

Newly counted votes widened the gap between Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page and state Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger in the race to earn the Republican nomination for state Senate District 26. Unofficial election results released Tuesday placed Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page two votes ahead of incumbent NC Senate President Pro Tempore Berger with a tally of 13,077 votes to 13,075. On Friday, Rockingham County and Guilford County election officials worked to tabulate cured absentee-by-mail ballots and provisional ballots, adding 59 votes for Page and 38 votes for Berger. The machine reading in Rockingham County listed 56 votes...

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., lashed out at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday, calling her leadership of the agency a “disaster.” “We’re an exceptional nation. And one of the reasons we’re exceptional is we expect exceptional leadership. And you have demonstrated anything but that,” said TIllis, who has previously called on Noem to resign. He struck out at Noem for her handling of disaster response and the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, among other things. “What we’ve seen is innocent people getting detained that turned out are American citizens,” Tillis said in a roughly 10-minute diatribe that included references...

In 911 recordings, the two men involved in a road rage incident give chilling details of what happened to them on Interstate 587 Monday morning. The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident that left one driver, Isaiah Quawi Farden, 20, of Greenville, crashed and the other, Anthony Alan Cape, 39, of Goldsboro, shot and in critical condition. The first call lasts just over four minutes and is from Cape at 7:15 a.m. Yelling, Cape can be heard using multiple expletives and a racial slur, saying he had just been shot by a man with an “AR.” During the...

A former exotic dancer who made headlines for falsely accusing three Duke lacrosse students of raping her has been freed from prison in the 2011 slaying of her boyfriend. Crystal Mangum, 47, was let out of the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh just before 10 a.m. Friday after serving a 14-to-18-year sentence for fatally stabbing beau Reginald Daye in April 2011, according to a report by NBC News. .....

A murder suspect was hospitalized and a man was arrested after a fight at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse on Thursday, officials said. The fight happened ahead of a court hearing for Marion McKnight, who is accused of killing 16-year-old Jamariyae Dixon in May 2025, according to the nonprofit Mothers Advocating for Real Change and Unwavering Support (M.A.R.C.U.S.). A spokesperson for the nonprofit said McKnight had repeatedly taunted Dixon's family after being released on bond for the charge. He was appearing in court for a bond revocation hearing after violating his pre-trial release conditions. They said Thursday's incident took place between...

HENDERSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) -- A North Carolina woman indicted on murder charges after she allegedly poisoned family members with wine during a Thanksgiving dinner could face the death penalty. On Tuesday, Feb. 17, the office of District Attorney Andrew Murray filed a motion to hold a Rule 24 pretrial conference in the case of Gudrun Linda Jean Casper-Leinenkugel. A Rule 24 hearing in North Carolina is mandatory for cases where the defendant is charged with a crime punishable by death, as is the case for Casper-Leinenkugel. Casper-Leinenkugel, 52, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts...

The crazed gunman who was shot dead after trying to enter Mar-a-Lago with a shotgun and a gas can has been identified as a North Carolina artist who was reported missing by his mom. Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of Cameron, North Carolina, was killed by law enforcement in the early hours of Sunday morning, law enforcement sources told The Post. He was reported missing by his family to authorities on Saturday.

A video is going viral of a congressional candidate in North Carolina admitting she is truly a "progressive" even though she is running as a Republican. "Are you trying to trick people?" Katie Barr, who is running in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, was asked on a podcast called "The Hometown Holler." "If you go on the campaign website, above the fold as they call it, is like, 'I'm not a real Republican.' Like, I am telling people the truth. I knock on a door and say, ‘I am running in the Republican primary, but I am not a Republican,...

When asked whether Martin still served in the role, a Justice Department spokesman told NBC News that he continued on in a separate role, as pardon attorney. Trump loyalist Ed Martin is out as leader of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” effort that is investigating prosecutors who launched past probes into President Donald Trump and his allies, two people familiar with the discussions tell NBC News. When asked whether Martin still served in the role, a Justice Department spokesman told NBC News that Martin continued to serve in a separate role, as pardon attorney.“President Trump appointed Ed Martin as Pardon Attorney...

Nahro Sudoi Innab "came here to take advantage of the American dream, but he has repeatedly tried to hire thugs to murder his perceived enemies," the U.S. Justice Department said. A federal jury convicted Nahro Sudoi Innab, 70, of Rocky Mount, N.C., on three counts of making interstate calls to plan new murders while the Palestinian immigrant was in jail awaiting a prison term after pleading guilty to having tried to murder other people. He faces up to 30 years in prison for the new convictions. “This Palestinian immigrant came here to take advantage of the American dream, but he...

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) compared Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to fictional villains on Friday, calling them both a “sycophant” as tensions rise over the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. “A sycophant is more than just a ‘yes-man,’” Tillis wrote in a lengthy post on social platform X. “It refers to someone who acts excessively servile toward someone important in order to gain an advantage.” He added, “They aren’t just being nice, they are using excessive flattery, often insincerely, to get what they want, whether that’s a promotion, social status or favor.”...

Sen. Thom Tillis said Friday that he will oppose President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair until the criminal probe of the current Chair Jerome Powell is “fully” resolved. “Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable,” the North Carolina Republican said in a statement on X. Tillis, who is set to retire, vowed earlier this month to oppose any new nominee for the Fed until the Department of Justice’s controversial investigation of Powell is completed. Tillis is a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee,...

Thom Tillis has always said that he hates the camera. Then he announced his retirement last year. Now, the moderate Republican from North Carolina cannot stop making headlines. In a fiery floor speech earlier this year, Tillis said he was leaving the Senate to remove himself from any “boundaries I should have in expressing my concern and creating complications for my campaign” and Senate Republicans maintaining the majority. His retirement, which he announced last June, allows him to “speak truth” to President Donald Trump about White House policies and advice from Trump’s staff, he said earlier this month. But, the...

Most in the GOP are silent or backing the Trump administration, but a conspicuous few are speaking out. A small but growing number of Republicans are raising public concerns about the killing Saturday of a 37-year-old Minnesota man by federal agents.Hours after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street, one House GOP chair called for the top ICE leader and other Trump administration officials to publicly answer lawmakers’ questions. GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for independent probes into the shooting, with Cassidy arguing the integrity...

(This story has been updated to reflect that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has issued a detainer and administrative warrant for Aguilar.) SALISBURY — The identities of the two people killed when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver on Friday night have been released. Twenty-year-old Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris, from Catawba, and 19-year-old Skylar Nichole Provenza, from Statesville, were both killed in a crash on Amity Hill Road at approximately 11:15 p.m. on Friday night. The crash occurred as the two were traveling northeast in a Honda Accord and were struck head-on by a Chevy Silverado that had crossed...

Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper holds a commanding double-digit lead in the latest poll of North Carolina's closely watched Senate race, which is seen as one of Democrats' best pickup opportunities in the 2026 midterm elections. The new survey data released Monday by Tipp Insights for the League of American Workers shows Cooper with 48 percent compared to 24 percent who support former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Whatley. An additional 27 percent are undecided.

FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr., and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) Chief Estella D. Patterson announce the capture of Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Alejandro “Alex” Rosales Castillo. Castillo was seen on surveillance video crossing the border from Nogales, Arizona, into Mexico, on August 16, 2016. For nearly ten years, special agents and CMPD task force officers in Charlotte have worked countless hours to develop leads to locate Castillo, ultimately uncovering where he has been hiding the past several years. Castillo was captured in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico, on January 16, 2026. The FBI’s Law Enforcement Attache Office...

Customs and Border Protection agents began an immigration enforcement operation Saturday in Charlotte. Leaders of North Carolina's largest city have said the federal operation is causing fear and uncertainty. Charlotte real estate agent Tabatha Andonian has been tracking federal agent sightings and sharing information with the city's Latino community. “Right now, I’m just driving around to see if I spot any vehicles that are ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), seeing if they have out-of-state plates,” she said.

President Donald Trump will face an important obstacle — from within his own party — as he seeks to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Sunday he will block any Trump appointees to the central bank, including for the new chair, in light of revelations over the weekend that the Justice Department is investigating Powell for potential perjury charges. “If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none. It is now the independence and credibility of...

Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s comments that Greenland should be a U.S. territory were “unacceptable.” Host Jake Tapper said, “So do you want Stephen Miller to lose his job?’ Tillis said, “Either Stephen Miller needs to get into a lane where he knows what he’s talking about or get out of his job. The reason why I thought it was important for me to make a comment on the floor is I’ve been the Republican leader of the Senate NATO observer Group since 2018. There is no...