During his tenure, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper freed thousands of violent criminals including murderers, rapists, and child predators. Many of those criminals went on to reoffend, including Tyrell Brace who killed 23-year-old Elante' Thompson and Brandy Kachelle Wilson, who stabbed 36-year-old Scott Stroup to death after her release.
Cooper also vetoed legislation that would have required North Carolina Sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. Because of that, Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza are dead. They were killed by illegal alien Juan Alvarado Aguilar, who also had a lengthy criminal record when he hit the car in which Harris and Provenza were traveling. Harris was 20 years old; Provenza was 19.
With the election nearing and polls showing Michael Watley gaining on Cooper, Cooper is now trying to frame his soft-on-crime record as a public-safety issue. That's what Cooper is saying now of his decision to release thousands of murderers.
Roy Cooper says his release of 4,200 murderers, child predators and rapists was “something we wanted to do to protect the public.”
— Michael Whatley (@WhatleyNC) September 14, 2026
Has he lost his mind?!?
This was the worst decision made by a Governor in the history of NC. Cooper’s level of incompetence is stunning. pic.twitter.com/sN02PcLYZS
"The centerpiece of the Republican campaign against you is this deal that you had, this settlement deal that you reached about the prisoner release," said CNN's Manu Raju. "Roughly 3,500 prisoners were released early. When you look back at the way that that was handled by you and your administration, do you have any regrets about the way you handled that?"
"This is something that the state had to because the court ordered it," Cooper replied. "And I think a lot of people believed that, if you ask the plaintiffs, they were very frustrated that more weren't released. And this was something that we wanted to do to make sure we worked to protect the public."
Protect the public by releasing 3,500 violent criminals.
This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) September 15, 2026
The best way to keep the public safe is to keep the VIOLENT CRIMINALS in jail.
Obviously.
Roy Cooper is the worst. pic.twitter.com/HITWXuj30o
He is the worst. He could have fought it. He could have said he wasn't going to release violent criminals. But he did, and he blamed a court order for the death and destruction of lives that followed.
Roy Cooper is dangerous—particular to women and children. https://t.co/FlFpfOSsfG
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) September 15, 2026
After Cooper's 2019 anti-ICE veto, convicted child sex offender Marvin Ramirez Torres, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was released back into the community despite his felony record.
North Carolina Democrat Senate candidate Roy Cooper tells CNN the early release of 3,500 criminals during the COVID-19 pandemic was "something we wanted to do to protect the public."
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 15, 2026
Nearly half of those criminals reoffended within two years of their release. Here are some of… https://t.co/sRC28gn9qI
Other monsters released under Cooper include Ryan Camacho, who had 20 prior arrests. Following his release, Camacho killed teacher Zoe Welch. Jimmie Speight had multiple charges for indecent liberties with a child, failure to register as a sex offender, and second-degree murder. He was also released.
This was not a public safety issue. Public safety means keeping violent, dangerous criminals behind bars where they cannot hurt innocent people. Roy Cooper failed to do that, and he wants to take his pro-criminal policies to the U.S. Senate.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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