A North Carolina bill, designed to increase penalties for rioting, will become law without the signature of Gov. Roy Cooper (D).
House Bill 40, a piece of legislation designed to create new penalties for inciting or participating in a riot, was presented to Cooper on March 10. Cooper explained in a statement he would neither sign nor veto the bill, having already vetoed similar legislation the previous year.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. (Julia Wall/The News & Observer via AP, File)
“I acknowledge that changes were made to modify this legislation’s effect after my veto of a similar bill last year,” he said. “Property damage and violence are already illegal and my continuing concerns about the erosion of the First Amendment and the disparate impacts on communities of color will prevent me from signing this legislation.”
The bill codifies new felony and misdemeanor…
