North Raleigh Today

The North Carolina Senate president criticized the Democratic governor and other lawmakers for how they handled protests over the death of a Black man at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer in May, even saying that the National Guard should have deployed.

“Inaction, paralysis, and intentional neglect by elected leaders can no longer be ignored," Sen. Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said in a statement posted to his Medium press page on June 1. "It is past time for Governor [Roy] Cooper to lead forcefully and decisively to put an end to what more and more looks like organized domestic terrorism.”

The now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was allegedly identified on a video with his knee on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes leading to his death while three other police officers reportedly watched. Chauvin has since been charged with murder. The other officers are also facing charges for their alleged involvement.

North Carolina Senate President Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) | Photo Country of North Carolina Legislature

The senate president released his statement a day after protests gripped Raleigh, with rioters damaging and vandalizing businesses and property.

"Businesses were shown on live TV with armed guards — mercenaries — protecting life and property because their elected leaders failed them," Berger said in the statement. “Last night should have been anticipated and additional steps, including [the] imposition of a curfew and early deployment of National Guard resources, should have been taken. There is no excuse."

The Republican also criticized the governor for requiring certain businesses and houses of worship to function with limited capacity to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but does not hold rioters to the same standards.

“If you’re a group of 11 worshipers looking to pray inside your chapel, the Governor will go to federal court to stop you," Berger said in his statement. "But if you’re a group of 100 rioters, the Governor will make empty gestures about ‘encouraging’ local officials hours before you return with baseball bats to wreak havoc all over again."

Berger also suggested that businesses violating the Democratic governor's faced harsher penalties that rioters and looters.

“If you’re a tattoo artist trying to reopen your business, you’ll be arrested in front of a TV camera as a ‘show of force,'" Berger said in his statement. "But if you burn that tattoo parlor to the ground, you’ll face no consequence."