Damage after protests that followed George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. | By Indy beetle/Wikimedia Commons
Damage after protests that followed George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. | By Indy beetle/Wikimedia Commons
North Carolina voters should be "alarmed" that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham failed to condemn recent violent protests in Raleigh, the state's Republican Party said in a news release.
"The protests we've seen over the past few weeks in Raleigh have been anything but peaceful," Tim Wigginton, state GOP press secretary, said in the Sept. 28 release. "Rather than condemning the destructive actions that occurred Saturday night like Senator (Thom) Tillis and his own Democratic ally Mayor Baldwin did, Cal Cunningham was silent. North Carolinians should be alarmed that a candidate for the U.S. Senate is sitting idly by as rioters destroy our capital city."
Baldwin did condemn the violence, ABC 11 reported, but noted it was "mostly white" actors creating the problems and not those protesting for social justice and equal treatment in Breonna Taylor's name.
In the statement reported by ABC 11, she said, "The City prepared an opportunity for those who wanted to protest peacefully, and once again, vandals (mostly white) used this as an excuse to incite violence and cause destruction of our downtown business community."
Cunningham has "embraced rioters" in recent months, the NCGOP statement said. The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate has supported protesters calling for equal treatment of Blacks.
"His silence on the destruction of property and targeted attacks on law enforcement is just another reason why he is unfit to keep North Carolinians out of harm's way," the NCGOP statement said.
Cunningham, a former state senator, is challenging Tillis, the incumbent, in the November election for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.
Two of the three Ballotpedia race ratings list the Tillis-Cunningham battle as a toss-up, with the third listing it as tilting Democrat.
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