Shooting the Reasonable Fellow

Published July 8, 2013

By Carter Wrenn, "Talking About Politics," July 8, 2013

Colon Willoughby, the District Attorney, is catching it from all sides.

Faced with the chore of prosecuting hundreds of ‘Moral Monday’ demonstrators, Willoughby suggested to the protestors they were wreaking more havoc on the Wake County Courts than on Republicans and politely suggested maybe they ought to reconsider the virtues of getting themselves arrested every Monday.

That didn’t appeal to Reverend William Barber (who’s leading the protests) – so with arrests piling up Willoughby tried a different tack, suggesting to the State Capital Police Chief that, perhaps, it would make more sense to give the protestors citations rather than arresting them. “It doesn’t lessen the charge or the court’s ability to try the cases,” Willoughby explained, “and it would probably save the taxpayers of Wake County over $100,000.”

That earned Willoughby a broadside from the other end of the political spectrum – the Wake County Republican Chairman blasted Willoughby saying he’s a Democrat who wants to give the Democrats protesting against Republican legislators a break.

And that’s politics: Democrats shoot at Republicans, Republicans shoot back, then some well-meaning fellow comes along with a reasonable suggestion and both sides shoot him.