Last week, the office of North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis released recordings of death threats he has been receiving lately. One included a reference to bashing his head in with an ax handle.
Meanwhile, Republican Jefferson Griffin and Democrat incumbent Allison Riggs say they have both received threats as a legal battle over the 2024 election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat in continues to play out. Riggs won 734 more votes than Griffin, but Griffin is attempting to have more than 65,000 ballots thrown out.
The threats to North Carolina politicians are just one example of a wave of intimidation tactics playing out nationwide.
The U.S. Marshals Service says threats to federal judges are increasing, and some are being singled out on social media. President Trump is questioning the American legal system — he recently called for a judge that ruled against his administration to be impeached.
Charlotte Talks sits down with two reporters and a First Amendment scholar to discuss the state of free speech and political violence in North Carolina and beyond.
GUESTS:
Danielle Battaglia, Washington correspondent for The News & Observer
David Enrich, business investigations editor for the New York Times, author of "Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful"
Bill Marshall, law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law
