Lawmakers Photo At Protest Sparks Backlash
As “No Kings” demonstrations spiraled into violent clashes in cities across the country — from ICE agents being attacked in Portland to police assaulted in Los Angeles and Tukwila — many Americans are asking the obvious question: where is the accountability? And more urgently, why are Democrat politicians continuing to amplify these events rather than condemning them?
Amid the nationwide unrest, North Carolina State Rep. Julie von Haefen (D-36) has ignited a firestorm of controversy for posting what critics say is a blatantly incendiary image from a Raleigh protest she attended.
Her video included a sign displaying a guillotine, with a severed head resembling President Donald Trump dangling from one side, and another grotesque head marked with a swastika from the other. Beneath it, the chilling message: “In these difficult times some cuts may be necessary.”
This wasn’t just an oversight. The post came in the wake of multiple assassination attempts against Donald Trump and amid intensifying political violence targeting public officials. Whether by ignorance or intent, von Haefen’s post hit at the worst possible moment — and she’s now facing bipartisan outrage.
The North Carolina Republican Party and House Speaker Destin Hall are calling for her resignation. Hall said her conduct “glorifies violence against her political opponents” and warned that such actions set a “dangerous precedent in an already volatile political climate.”
GOP Chairman Jason Simmons was blunt: von Haefen doesn’t have the "judgment or temperament” to hold public office.
After deleting her X account and editing the video on Instagram to remove the offending image, von Haefen issued a lukewarm apology, stating she condemns political violence in all forms. But that raises a question — if she truly condemns political violence, why post the image in the first place?
This wasn’t satire. It wasn’t hidden. It was a guillotine with the head of a former U.S. president — a grotesque callback to political violence that doesn’t belong anywhere in a free society. And yet, this image was posted by an elected official.
While Republicans have denounced von Haefen’s actions, North Carolina Democrats have remained largely silent. The Democratic House Caucus declined to comment to the North State Journal, and no Democrat leaders have publicly rebuked their colleague. In a time that demands moral clarity, silence sends a message of tacit approval.