Last week, former North Carolina governor turned Democratic nominee for Senate Roy Cooper released an ad in which he tried to deny that his policies on crime as governor made the Tar Heel State less safe. Needless to say, he made some bold claims.
There's nothing political about keeping your family safe. pic.twitter.com/LC6avxluF3
— Roy Cooper (@RoyCooperNC) June 23, 2026
Unfortunately, those claims are patently untrue. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Cooper: “I… said no way we defund the police.”
Maybe he didn't say those exact words, but the North State Journal reported in May that on June 1, 2020, “Cooper, in violation of his own executive orders on masking and social distancing, marched in front of the Executive Mansion alongside Black Lives Matter protesters. He was seen with his mask off, raising a fist and waving, as he walked from one of the gated entrances of the mansion to the other, flanked by members of his security detail.”
Cooper and his family also evacuated the governor’s residence as the city burned. His statements from that summer also indicated that he sided with protesters over the brave men and women of law enforcement who were trying to keep North Carolinians safe.
Recommended: A Father’s Day Tribute for a Tar Heel Whose Dad Never Got to See Him in Carolina Blue
Cooper: “As your attorney general, I put drug dealers, rapists, and murderers in prison and kept them there.”
The truth is that Cooper cut a deal with the NAACP to fast-track the release of 3,500 felons as governor. The Washington Free Beacon tells one story:
Tony D. Hartsell strangled and beat the 84-year-old North Carolina woman who lived across the street from him before stabbing her 44 times, mutilating her body beyond recognition. A jury found Hartsell guilty of first-degree murder in 1995 and sentenced him to life in prison.
But in March 2021, Hartsell walked out of a North Carolina prison a free man, much to the dismay of his victim's family. His release came a month after then-governor Roy Cooper (D.) and his administration agreed to fast-track the release of 3,500 inmates as part of a legal settlement with the NAACP—a deal that included Hartsell, according to a copy of the "early release" list obtained last week by WSOC-TV. Now, as Cooper's campaign for North Carolina's open Senate seat heats up, he insists he had nothing to do with Hartsell's release. Cooper's campaign told the Washington Free Beacon that the prisoner was eligible for parole before the governor signed the deal and that the state Department of Adult Correction, a cabinet-level agency that reports to the governor, had a say in granting Hartsell parole.
Cooper: “As your governor, I toughened bail laws.”
In the surreal summer of 2020, Cooper championed the Governor's Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. The 24-person committee, whose members Cooper hand-picked, called “for the elimination of cash bail for Class I misdemeanors, the most severe in the state, except when the suspect poses a threat to public safety.”
Cooper: “You deserve to feel safe and there is nothing political about that.”
Two words: Iryna Zarutska.
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) June 23, 2026
“Roy Cooper’s time in the basement must be getting to him. After releasing dangerous convicted felons from prison early that went on to murder, rape, and assault North Carolinians, Roy Cooper is attempting to change the past into a reality that did not exist,” said Michael Whatley’s Campaign Spokesman DJ Griffin. “Cooper’s own policies have made North Carolina less safe for families, and no amount of political pandering can change his devastating legacy of violence nor the empty seats at the dinner table that Cooper has caused.”
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