Kate Woomer-Deters: Targeting protesters a waste of time

Regarding the March 6 news article “ ‘Economic terrorism’ bill targets protesters with tougher penalties”: All the acts that Rep. John Torbett seeks to criminalize with his new “economic terrorism” bill appear to be either acts of free expression protected by the Constitution, or acts such as breaking windows and committing violence that are already outlawed by other statutes.

Rather than wasting his time on this bill, perhaps Torbett could spend his time looking for solutions to the real issues of inequity in policing that gave rise to the Keith Lamont Scott protests in the first place.

Torbett should focus his time on the other critical issues facing our state: improving outcomes for all public school students, addressing environmental concerns from sea-level rise to coal-ash pollution, creating economic opportunity for all North Carolinians or redistricting our state in a way that provides fair representation for all voters.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Kate Woomer-Deters: Targeting protesters a waste of time."