REPORT: Roy Cooper evacuated from Governor's Mansion while publicly praising rioters

Yesterday, North State Journal reported in detail the hypocrisy of Roy Cooper's public praise and private actions when downtown Raleigh burned for multiple nights.

The evacuation

Former members of law enforcement told NSJ that sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on May 31, Cooper and his family were evacuated from the mansion via a side portico entrance.

The Coopers were taken to the Emergency Management Operations Center (EMOC) located outside the 440 Beltline on Gold Star Drive, just off Blue Ridge Road, about 6½ miles from the Executive Mansion.

One former officer said a team was tasked with following Cooper’s motorcade to the EMOC and, once there, the team turned around and went back to aid Raleigh Police. The officer also said Cooper “had to know what was going on” in downtown Raleigh because key leadership for various law enforcement agencies were also at the EMOC.

Attempts to gain access to records of Cooper’s movements that night, such as travel logs, memos and emails related to that evacuation, have failed, with the NCSHP refusing to release any documentation.

“If any logs had existed, we would treat them as sensitive public security information under NCGS 132-1.7 and therefore not consider those documents to be a public record,” a public information officer for the NCSHP said in an email. It is the same response NSJ received when making a similar inquiry in 2020.

Additionally, NSJ sought other official records, including emails and relevant documents, from Cooper’s tenure. However, the State Archives of North Carolina claims Cooper’s papers are not yet in their possession nearly a year and a half after leaving office.

Between 500 and 1,000 people were estimated to have gathered in the downtown Raleigh area on May 30, 2020, to protest, and skirmishes with police began by early that evening.

Earlier that day, at 2:51 p.m., Cooper — who is currently campaigning against Republican Michael Whatley to succeed Thom Tillis in the U.S. Senate — issued a signed post on social media about Floyd, signing it “-RC.”

“George Floyd and so many others should be alive right now. People are angry, frustrated and sad, and I am too. If we don’t force our communities toward accountability and action then we haven’t learned anything,” Cooper wrote. “The protests around the country offer a space for people to make their voices heard, but they must happen without violence and further loss of life. It’s time we have the difficult conversations needed to stamp out racism and end these unjust killings. – RC.”

Cooper wasn’t heard from again until nearly 10 hours later when he issued a statement on social media.

“I am in continuing contact with Emergency Management leaders about violence occurring in some of our cities,” Cooper posted. “Frustrating that planned peaceful protests about real systemic racism are marred. I am grateful for those seeking justice peacefully. – RC”

A former officer confirmed to NSJ that protesters had approached the area of the governor’s mansion on the night of May 31 and were observed throwing objects, including water bottles and bricks.

Former NCSHP members on duty that night said they were ordered to split off from assisting Raleigh Police and were diverted on foot to intervene at the Executive Mansion because the law enforcement presence at the mansion was “worried they were going to be overrun.”

Officers also told NSJ they were deployed to assist Raleigh Police and restocked the police who had “expended most of their munitions.”

Another former NCSHP member said during those two nights in May, they deployed more chemical munitions than in the department’s history, which goes back to 1929. That officer confirmed shots were fired at them near the Capitol building, calling the scene “absolute chaos.”

Marching with protesters

It is unclear exactly when Cooper returned to the Executive Mansion from the EMOC, but he was next seen in person on June 1 prior to rioting returning to the streets of Raleigh for a third night.

That afternoon, 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.

One former law enforcement officer said Cooper’s march put officers in danger.

“(Cooper) decided to come out of the mansion, putting his detail at risk, our guys at risk, because he wanted to show he was a man of the people,” the officer told NSJ.

That officer also said it was a “photo op” for the cameras to see him “with his mask off in all his smirking glory” outside the governor’s mansion.

Prior to his June 1 news briefing and his solidarity march with the protesters, Cooper allegedly met privately with protest organizers, one of which was Conrad James of Living Ultra-Violet.

James has a criminal record in Wake County of 13 arrests going back to 2012, six of which occurred after the 2020 protest. Those include an arrest for felony incitement to riot 20 days after allegedly meeting with Cooper.

Records show James was charged with felony incitement of a riot two more times, in October 2021 and February 2023. James’ Facebook profile as of May says he now lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons said of the report, "The hypocrisy of Roy Cooper on full display while Raleigh burned. He doesn’t care about the safety of North Carolinians and hid behind his taxpayer-funded security when it got too close to his front door. Our law enforcement deserves better in the U.S. Senate."

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