Wednesday, May 06, 2020

Update on Not-From-Boone Ashley Smith, Leader of ReOpenNC

Ashley Smith
Capitol Police mug shot from
her arrest last week

Yesterday in Raleigh, about 200 people, led by a grandstanding Ashley Smith, gathered at the legislative building to protest the governor's stay-at-home order (which, in fact, he's beginning to relax as of this Friday, 5 p.m., which is another bone of contention for the rest of us). About 30 of those marched to the governor's mansion. Few were wearing masks. In fact, Smith is promoting a boycott of CostCo and Whole Foods because those two businesses are requiring shoppers to wear masks.

Membership in Smith's ReOpenNC group appears to be dwindling, especially with the defection last week of a co-organizer who disagreed with Smith's version of civil disobedience. She accused Smith of "nearly inciting a riot."

Yesterday outside the General Assembly, "Speakers took turns at the microphone for nearly an hour. They prayed, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and made references to those killed at Waco and Ruby Ridge." Their minds just naturally go to bloody violence because the governor -- a jack-booted thug if there ever was one! -- wants them to wear masks and stand six feet apart.

According to the News and Observer, "ReOpenNC leader Ashley Smith said the group will become a nonprofit and begin a fundraising campaign. She said upcoming legal fights require funds. The group had wanted to file a class-action writ of habeas corpus, but doing so required a filing fee of $200 a person." "A class-action writ of habeas corpus"? Jeffrey Billman: "I’m fairly certain that’s not a real thing."
Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article242506046.html?utm_source=INDY+Week+-+Pico&utm_campaign=2234b8ccb2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_05_06_03_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4bfd26c21a-2234b8ccb2-220514609#storylink=cpy
Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article242506046.html?utm_source=INDY+Week+-+Pico&utm_campaign=2234b8ccb2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_05_06_03_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4bfd26c21a-2234b8ccb2-220514609#storylink=cpy

Smith doesn't like Governor Cooper's phased reopening plan. She proclaimed that it "will change little and lead to economic downfall." “It’s time to make a stand,” she said. “I think I’ve shown willingness to put skin in the game in a tactile way.”
Indeed, yes. She's caused a good stink.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"to put skin in the game in a tactile way.”

Does that mean she rubs people the wrong way? Or is she now doing illicit massages on the down low?