Comments | Eastern NC Now

It's nice that Rep. Murphy is attempting to cut medical costs. It would be nice if would also keep his word. In February, 2025, I met with Rep.Murphy at his New Bern district office to discuss reintroducing legislation that Walter Jones had introduced in six Congresses, to require the FBI track and report criminal alien crimes.

You can read the most recent introduced version of "Jamiel's Law", named after a murder victim here: www.congress.gov

Rep. Murphy said, and I quote, "It would be my honor to reintroduce the bill." In May, 2025, I, along with Jamiel Shaw, Sr, the victim's father, approved the final draft.

That was 14 months ago. It never took Walter more than a month to get a bill introduced. Since then, emails go unanswered, visits to his New Bern district office requesting a phone call or update have gone unanswered.

All the bill requires is for "nationality" and "legal status" be added to the Uniform Crime Reports already required for all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Why Rep. Murphy has not kept his word, and is avoiding me defies logic. At this point, he has wasted 1.5 years, which could have been spent courting other sponsors. If the name Jamiel Shaw sounds familiar, Trump carried Mr. Shaw on his 2016 campaign trail, even giving him a speaking spot at the national convention. Murphy agreed now was the best time to give this bill a real chance of becoming law. The President knows the family personally. Crickets...

Your word is your bond. It's the only thing that can't be taken from you. I gave the Jamiel Shaw Family my word that I would never stop trying to get this bill passed, which were it law already, could have saved Laken Riley, and hundreds of other families from having their child executed in the street by an MS-13 gang banger illegal alien, who had been released from L.A. County Jail on a gun charge, and assaulting an officer.

When queried by a researcher trying to find real numbers on illegal alien crime, he eventually found it would be the FBI's responsibility. In 2007, they responded via email that the reason they don't is because, "Congress hasn't told us to." They were right.

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) doesn't require "nationality" or "legal status" on the monthly reports to the FBI on felony criminal arrests. "Jamiel's Law" would fix that, and would withhold federal funds to any law enforcement agency that refuses to work with DHS/ICE to establish "nationality" and "legal status."

Congressman Murphy was in total agreement with me, gave his word, invoking his "honor." I believed him then. I don't now. If you know him, ask him why I've become persona non-grata, ask him why he hasn't kept his word. Ask him to give me a call. He has my number.

I can forgive and forget. I believe in redemption. After this Congress ends, he will no longer by Congressman because of redistricting. If you'll be in the 3rd District, you might consider someone whose word means something. - Jeff Lewis, National Director, Patriot Coalition.

Commented: Thursday, July 30th, 2026 @ 3:21 pm By: Jeff Lewis

I went on Facebook to check this out and it is everything this article complains about and more. To start with, the headline 'STATEMENT FROM CHAIRMAN CAROLYN GARRIS OF THE BEAUFORT COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY' was under the Beaufort County Republican Party heading, so as most people guessed, Ms. Garris is the one posting and reacting as the Beaufort County Republican Party. At least in this post she correctly sub-identified herself as who she is and in what capacity she is speaking. In most instances that would be the appropriate way to communicate. This particular instance was still not appropriate, because the Chairman of the Republican Party has no business publicly saying such nasty things about people in the community - both unaffiliated and Republicans (I didn't see a Democrat name). She is also inappropriate saying she is the Beaufort County Republican Party, because the whole committee is the official Beaufort County Republican Party. In this particular time, she is not right in saying the things she said using the title Chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party because she made the Party look bad to the public, she harmed the Party's credibility in the community, and she harmed at least one Republican candidate in an election season. All of this is inexcusable behavior for someone serving in her official capacity.

The vitriol in her "statement" was largely untrue, oftentimes misleading, and oozing with hypocrisy.

Chairman Garris states that the Republican Party exists for one purpose - to get Republicans elected. If that is true, then why is the party chairman actively attacking at least one Republican candidate in the present election season? Mind you she is making this statement under the heading of "CHAIRMAN CAROLYN GARRIS OF THE BEAUFORT COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY". If she wants to run a PAC (Political Action Committee) she should do that. It is not appropriate to do that under the auspices of the Republican Party, which is what she has been doing for a long time. She continues to misuse her position.

Also, remember this chairperson has broken all records for falsely charging many local Republicans (some were candidates) with disloyalty while protecting several Republicans actually guilty of disloyalty.

All mentioned here is only the tip of the iceberg. Unimaginable damage has been done to the Republican Party in Beaufort County.

Commented: Thursday, July 30th, 2026 @ 9:10 am By: Van Zant

As things are now, this recently put together audit committee amounts to being the fox in the henhouse, and the big bad wolf chasing Goldilocks and the three piggies, all rolled into one. A lot of people don't want to hear it, but Hood is right about putting together a representative audit committee people might have some faith in. Please, please, please, no more coverups. I think Ms. Davis' recommendation for a third-party audit is a good idea.

Commented: Thursday, July 30th, 2026 @ 7:17 am By: Van Zant

It is increasingly clear that Fauci actively tried to cover up the lab leak origin of Covid with the ridiculous wet market claim. The Wuhan lab was doing "gain of function" research on these very bat viruses. Imagine that. And guess who was funding it? A grant from Fauci's agency laundered through an entity called the "EcoHealth Alliance" That was to get around federal government rules against using our tax dollars for dangerous gain of function research. Fauci's fingerprints are all over this disaster and he ought to be in prison.

Commented: Wednesday, July 29th, 2026 @ 12:42 pm By: Concerned Taxpayer

Glen Beck had a segment today on his radio show on the threat of these license plate reading Flock cameras to our privacy and freedom, with the big danger being in Flock's collecting all of this data from many cameras and aggregating it for permanent storage in data bases. He discouraged people from destroying or damaging the cameras, as seems to be going on some places, but that this issue needs to be addressed urgently with local governments. He suggested the key safeguard is to prohibit maintaining these records beyond a couple of weeks.

Commented: Wednesday, July 29th, 2026 @ 11:54 am By: Steven P. Rader

JV, we have an absolutely dreadful choice between Cooper and Whatley. Neither of them excites voters or is really worth a damn. That said, I will hold my nose for Whatley because Cooper is nothing but a rubber stamp for the Democrat socialist left and always has been. Whatley owes Trump enough that I am confidant that he will at least vote conservative where Trump takes a stand. The Democrats have gone so far to the left that our country simply cannot afford a Democrat senate.

We all need to get to the polls and vote to keep our good conservative sheriff, keep a conservative voice on the county commission with Stan Deatherage, stop the Democrat Soros judges, and reelect our conservative state senator Bob Brinson. We also need to rid ourselves of Don Davis who marched with BLM / ANTIFA in Greenville. The poor choices for US Senate should not keep people from the polls. For that race, we will just have to hold our noses and check the lesser of the evils.

Commented: Tuesday, July 28th, 2026 @ 7:02 pm By: Rino Hunter

I found one of those Flock license plate reader cameras at Lowes. It is on the south side of the northern entrance, painted all black so it does not stand out. The other is probably at the south entrance. So if you shop at Lowes, your license plate and other data goes into a national database, where it stays permanently, every time you shop there. This is an arrogant disregard of the privacy of their customers.

Commented: Tuesday, July 28th, 2026 @ 11:33 am By: Bubba

With the Beaufort County GOP fully under the control of the continual political guile of local RINOs and RINO Whisperers, I foresaw this happening, again, that the RINO rich Beaufort County GOP (those who will NEVER support fully the Republican Party platform) would thus attack me yet again in this election season, just as they did in the 2022 General Election.

Chairman Carolyn Garris should resign immediately. This will serve as my second request.

A note to the public: Do NOT take the inner core of the Beaufort County GOP seriously as Real Republicans ... not unless you are a grand supporter of RINOs and RINO Whisperers, who will work predominately to elect candidates who will raise your taxes, and do the bidding of the status quo of heavy handed "bi-partisanship." This is their history to do so.

What we need in Beaufort County's governments are real Conservatives, not beholding to any special interest, who will cut wasteful spending, and choose wise policy over the RINO predilection to "Swap Votes (with Democratic Socialists) to Share Power here in Beaufort County."

Commented: Tuesday, July 28th, 2026 @ 8:45 am By: Stan Deatherage

Cheeseman was just too well known for using his office to play politics. We are fortunate that he is gone.

Commented: Sunday, July 26th, 2026 @ 3:43 pm By: Rino Hunter

American taxpayer money should not be spent on subsidizing illegal aliens in education or in anything. They are foreign students and should pay full tuition at out-of-state rates.

Even worse is that the four big spender liberals on our county commission - Randy Walker, Frankie Waters, Jerry Langley, and Ed Booth - are pouring county taxpayer money into Bernie Sanders scheme of free college tuition, so even more tax money might be going to illegal aliens, if our ultra liberal administration at BCCC is letting them into that program, which they probably are.

Conservatives need to get to the bottom of whether our tax money is being used to subsidise illegal aliens, and if so what we need to do to stop it.

Commented: Sunday, July 26th, 2026 @ 11:44 am By: Concerned Taxpayer

The audit strictly needs to come from a third party.

Commented: Saturday, July 25th, 2026 @ 1:57 pm By: Stacey Davis