NC lawmakers push for rioters to face felony charges. So what is considered a riot? [View all]

RALEIGH -- Participating in a riot in any form in North Carolina could soon leave you susceptible to felony charges.

On Monday, Sen. Danny Britt, a Lumberton Republican, filed Senate Bill 300, labeled the Criminal Justice Reform bill. The 12-page bill includes a provision that would increase the punishment for anyone participating in a riot from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class H felony.

“We want folks to know that it is our opinion that these crimes are serious,” Britt told The News & Observer on Tuesday. “We hope that this will convey to them the need to actually prosecute crimes at a serious level.”

But North Carolina laws on rioting are vague. Britt’s bill leaves open to interpretation how someone could face felony charges for rioting and opens the door to further racial discrimination, said Ann Webb, senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article249019090.html