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power outage
'Intentional Vandalism' Leaves Thousands Without Power in North Carolina
One right-wing extremist implied that multiple electrical substations were targeted to disrupt a drag show in Moore County. Local law enforcement authorities and the FBI are investigating.
Dec 04, 2022
Officials in a North Carolina county where more than 40,000 households remain without power amid freezing temperatures declared a state of emergency on Sunday afternoon, less than 24 hours after multiple electrical substations were damaged by gunfire in an apparent act of criminal vandalism.
"As utility companies began responding to the different substations, evidence was discovered that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites," Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said in a statement. The massive blackout, which began just after 7:00 pm Saturday night, is "being investigated as a criminal occurrence." No arrests have been announced.
According to The Pilot, a local newspaper:
Damage assessments are still underway and estimates for the return of power to almost all of southern and central Moore remain uncertain. Initially, Duke Energy had estimated restoration by 10:00 pm Sunday night, but that was before daylight and full examinations could be made of the damage. Duke spokesman Jeff Brooks said company officials were still assessing damage, but the company said it could be Thursday, December 8, before power is fully restored because some equipment cannot be repaired and must be replaced.
"Our crews are actively working to make repairs," Brooks said. "We're exploring multiple repair paths, given the size of the outage, to try to restore as many customers as we can as quickly as we can, but this is a significant outage in the local area that is likely to be extended. We're hoping to update our estimated times of restoration as the day progresses. We're still actively getting information on that repair path even as we're making repairs, so it's a little bit of a dynamic situation."
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have both joined the investigation, according to U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who represents the area. At least two substations were attacked "with criminal intent," but the motive remains unclear, Hudson said Sunday morning.
As Harvard legal scholar Alejandra Caraballo documented in a detailed Twitter thread, one right-wing extremist implied that armed vandals deliberately caused power outages to disrupt a drag show at the Sunrise Theater in downtown Southern Pines.
Emily Rainey, a former Army officer who resigned after the military probed her alleged participation in the January 6 insurrection, wrote on Facebook, "The power is out in Moore County and I know why." In a subsequent post, Rainey shared a photo of the Sunrise Theater, where a drag show was scheduled, and wrote, "God will not be mocked."
Later, Rainey claimed that Moore County sheriffs visited her home, likely to question her about the aforementioned social media posts. As Caraballo noted, it is unclear if Rainey--who supposedly told law enforcement that "God works in mysterious ways and is responsible for the outage"--has "any actual knowledge or connection to the perpetrators."
\u201cEmily Rainey then claimed law enforcement arrived at her home and questioned her. Likely for posting the prior posts stating to know why. Unclear if she has any actual knowledge or connection to the perpetrators.\n\nhttps://t.co/Xb325qolpT\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1670177045
Right-wing activists in other parts of the country, meanwhile, quickly endorsed the gun-induced power outage and ensuing disturbance of the drag event. Texas Freedom Coalition president Sarah Fields, for instance, tweeted "#ImOkWithIt" before deleting the celebratory hashtag from her post.
"Regardless of the motivations of the perpetrators," Caraballo wrote, "this is how it was being perceived by extremists." Moreover, the Proud Boys and other far-right groups "threatened to protest and disrupt the event" in the days leading up to it. Despite receiving death threats, organizers of the drag show vowed to proceed.
\u201cIn the days leading up to the event, organizers of the drag event received death threats but vowed to continue on regardless. Proud Boys and other extremist groups threatened to protest and disrupt the event. https://t.co/e1vsJMVUbs\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1670177045
"It has not been confirmed by officials or law enforcement that the two were explicitly connected," Caraballo tweeted. "However, the timing is likely not a coincidence."
"Regardless of the motivations of the perpetrators, it is factually true that a drag show that was targeted by extremists with death threats in the days leading up to the event," she added. "The drag show was disrupted by power loss resulting from power substations being attacked with gunfire."
While a local resident said that the drag show went on, with guests providing light via their cell phones, the power grid attack was highly destructive.
Citing Southern Pines Fire Chief Mike Cameron, The Associated Pressreported that "there have been several accidents at intersections where the traffic lights are out."
As The Pilot reported, Southern Pines' water and sewer system and the Moore County Regional Hospital are operating on backup generators. County officials have ordered a curfew from 9:00 pm Sunday night to 5:00 am Monday morning, activated a local emergency center, and canceled classes for Monday, the newspaper noted.
"I'm worried for residents of Moore County who rely on life-sustaining medical equipment and just had the power go out," writer Charlotte Clymer tweeted. "This attack has immediately put lives in danger, to say nothing of the campaign of terror being waged against LGBTQ people."
According to Caraballo, the Southern Pines drag show was targeted last month on Twitter by the right-wing account, "Libs of TikTok." In their post, the group alleged that the performance was marketed as being open to children 16 and under as long as they were accompanied by a parent or guardian despite containing "adult themes."
However, according to advertising materials shared by Clymer, the event flyer stated that "no one under the age of 18 will be permitted."
Elsewhere in the country this weekend, armed far-right activists showed up outside drag events, canceling a story hour at a church in Columbus, Ohio, and demonstrating outside a music and art show in Lakeland, Florida.
\u201cThe Proud Boys had been targeting this event for weeks, which is why it was canceled.\n\nThe goals are clear: Cancel community events by mobilizing violent bigoted gangs, and ultimately, flood the narrative with \u201cgroomer\u201d until all drag/LGBTQ is accepted as inherently threatening.\u201d— Andy Campbell (@Andy Campbell) 1670086653
\u201cNazis targeted a kid friendly drag/music/art show tonight in Lakeland, FL. Attendees were stuck inside the venue when they surrounded the building and local cops just sat in their cars. This was at least the second rally against the LGBTQ community that happened in FL today.\u201d— Jen \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 SAY GAY \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Cousins (@Jen \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 SAY GAY \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f Cousins) 1670128209
"This is terrorism," said Caraballo. "Where is the DOJ? This is a clear violation of civil rights by neo-Nazi organizations."
"We need to start bringing Section 1985 claims against Proud Boys and neo-Nazi organizations showing up armed to LGBTQ events," she continued. "This is exactly what the Ku Klux Klan Act was supposed to prevent. The fact that they wear masks and are armed makes it an even easier claim to prove."
\u201cDHS issued a warning of domestic terror threats to the LGBTQ community. In the past 48 hours, a man was arrested for threatening to murder a doctor in Boston, fascists showed up armed to a drag event in Ohio, and fascists shot up power stations to stop a drag show.\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1670132304
Caraballo shared a recent Fox News segment in which Tucker Carlson "told viewers to arm themselves" after right-wing activist Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute "went on a deranged rant about drag queens."
\u201cThinking back to this segment by Tucker Carlson where Christopher Rufo went on a deranged rant about drag queens and it ended with Tucker telling viewers to arm themselves. They did and they threatened a drag event in Ohio and shot up power stations in NC.\nhttps://t.co/Y4o097XIGm\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1670163560
Just two weeks ago, a right-wing bigot wielding an AR-15-style assault rifle killed five people and injured at least 18 at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs.
The Republican Party has gone to great lengths to normalize hatred of and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, with one recent analysis showing that GOP lawmakers have introduced 306 bills aimed at restricting the rights of transgender people alone over the past two years.
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The Night the Candidates Were Speechless
The convergence of Tuesday night's broadcast interruption during the first game of the World Series - caused by an electronics failure and power outage -- and Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate brings to mind one of the most memorable TV snafus in history: the 27-minute loss of audio during the first presidential debate between incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter.
Oct 29, 2015
The convergence of Tuesday night's broadcast interruption during the first game of the World Series - caused by an electronics failure and power outage -- and Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate brings to mind one of the most memorable TV snafus in history: the 27-minute loss of audio during the first presidential debate between incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter.
I was in Philadelphia that night, September 23, 1976, working as the publicist for what was then called The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, now the PBS Newshour (in those days, I also worked as the publicist for Bill Moyers Journal).
Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer broadcast special debate coverage from the studio of Philadelphia's public television station WHYY ("Wider Horizons for You and Yours"). This space was the original home of Dick Clark and American Bandstand during the fifties and early sixties. I shuttled back and forth between the station and the Walnut Street Theatre where the actual debate was being held - a space in the basement had been reserved for the national press corps and I was busy handing out news releases touting the MacNeil/Lehrer coverage, which would feature the first instant poll of how the candidates had performed that night. Although now a thread-worn feature of all debate coverage, our survey was a newfangled notion back then.
This was the first presidential debate between the two major parties had been held since the famous Kennedy-Nixon confrontations of 1960. In the election years since, either one or both party candidates have refused to participate, or equal time rules for third-party and independent candidates have been a problem. But as the front page of the September 3, 1976, edition of The New York Times reported, the FCC had decided "to allow stations to carry debates without having to offer equal time to candidates who were excluded so long as the stations broadcast the debates in their entirety and took no part in organizing them."
This is where the League of Women Voters came in. The nonpartisan, non-profit, good government group became the official organizer of the '76 debates, and the networks were invited to cover them. That's how the equal time rules were circumvented, although there were legal challenges almost to the last minute.
The league's producer was a public television executive named Jim Karayn, and its TV director was Jack Sameth, who had also worked as a director and executive producer for Bill Moyers. Because I knew both of them, I had free rein to scoot in and out of the theater without interference from the Secret Service or other security. These were simpler times.
Interest was high that night, but the big event failed to deliver any drama until more than an hour into the debate, when the sound suddenly disappeared just minutes before the conclusion. Informed that the nation wasn't hearing what they had to say, the two men stopped and awkwardly stood behind their podiums, not uttering a word.
I had to return to the studio, and by the time I arrived, the audio was still out and would continue for nearly half an hour. MacNeil and Lehrer bravely soldiered on and vamped their way through the long minutes. A sign language interpreter signed everything they had to say, although because she was superimposed against the TV image of a mute Carter and Ford, it seemed more than a little odd.
Years later, Carter told Jim Lehrer, "I watched that tape afterward, and it was embarrassing that President Ford and I stood there almost like robots. We didn't move around; we didn't walk over and shake hands with each other. We just stood there." Ford added, "I suspect both of us would have liked to sit down and relax while the technicians were fixing the system, but I think both of us were hesitant to make any gesture that might look like we weren't physically or mentally able to handle a problem like this."
Ultimately, sound was restored, although many claimed those 27 minutes were the finest in presidential debates. Journalist Sander Vanocur later described the incident as "an unnatural act between two consenting candidates."
And the cause of the screw-up? The failure of a tiny electrolytic capacitor in the amplifier system costs about twenty-five cents to a dollar.
Two more Carter-Ford debates followed. In the second, President Ford prematurely liberated Poland from the Soviet Union, and in the third, Jimmy Carter discussed the lust in his heart he had revealed during a Playboy magazine interview.
But at that first big showdown nearly 40 years ago, silence made the headlines.
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