Second in a series of stories

From Staff Reports 

RALEIGH — In the fallout after conflicting stories were published in September about whether Asheville’s violent crime rate is skyrocketing, a columnist for the statewide conservative newspaper Carolina Journal wrote a piece appearing Oct. 9 in which he expresses his concern and dismay about the apparent problem with violent crime problem skyrocketing here.

His column follows FOX News’s report that violent crime in Asheville has increased by 31 percent over the past five years, which was countered shortly thereafter by what is billed as an investigative report —  published by the website avlwatchdog.org — contending that the numbers in the FOX report are skewed and the crime rate is not that bad. 

The CJ column, headlined, “Time to get rid of the soft-on-crime politicians,” was written by Ray Nothstine for the monthly newspaper published by the John Locke Foundation (self-billed as “a conservative think tank”) in Raleigh. 

Nothstine, who is Carolina Journal’s opinion editor as well as the Second Amendment research fellow at the JLF, began his column by stating:

“I’m less interested in partisan politics than some of my peers, but I’m tired of politicians coddling criminals. Violent crime is up in North Carolina and generally way up in many of America’s urban environments. Violent crime in Asheville is up 31 percent over five years. Statistics are telling, but behind the numbers are actual dead mothers, sons and other loved ones wiped out because of rising lawlessness and a gross indifference to human life.”

What’s more, Nothstine made a reference to state Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who spoke in Asheville on Sept. 29. (See story —  beginning on Page A1 and jumping to B7 — on Robinson’s speech and the question-and-answer session that followed.)

To that end, Nothstine wrote of Robinson, “Maybe it isn’t his place, but Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson reflects many of our attitudes when he jumps on television and calls New York City Mayor Eric Adams ‘a clown’ for failing to control crime. 

“Adams raised eyebrows when he recently declared, amidst surging crime in his own city, that ‘Unlike Kansas, New York City has a brand.’ Robinson fired back at Adams, saying, ‘Your brand is crime is out of control, and you’re not doing anything about it.’”

Nothstine then wrote, “I may not be a Fortune 500 marketing guru, but violent crime seems like a terrible branding campaign for your city.’”

He also wrote that “Obviously, I’m not for these so-called woke prosecutors, mayors, and judges who are destroying cities and people’s lives. 

“They all need to be turned out of office. They are simply letting some violent criminals out with no bail or ridiculously lenient sentences, who then go on to kill or rape again.”

Nothstine concluded his column as follows:

“While we certainly shouldn’t blindly support every action by police, a proper and basic function of government is keeping order and protecting the life of the innocent and the law-abiding citizenry. How can we justify giving the government more power when they can’t or even refuse to promote public safety?

“It’s long past time to put criminals on notice. As a voter, the only legal way I know how to do that, besides arming myself within the law, is by turning out the politicians who continually coddle them.”