Overview
- New coverage cites a 2024 state report showing that 48% of roughly 3,500 people freed under a 2021 COVID settlement later committed new crimes.
- The analysis counted more than 600 serious offenses after release, and 18 people have been charged with murder.
- Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley blamed Roy Cooper for the releases and claimed 19 North Carolinians are dead.
- Cooper’s campaign pushed back by pointing to scrutiny of Whatley over the appointment of Harvey West, a convicted sex offender, to a committee role during his party leadership.
- State lawmakers have created a bipartisan subcommittee to investigate how the release program operated and what it meant for public safety.