“PolitiFact found no evidence that the task force or its recommendations played a role in Brown’s release that year or earlier this year.”

In a new fact check by WRAL, DC insider Michael Whatley was caught lying about Governor Cooper’s record of keeping North Carolinians safe and putting criminals behind bars, rating Whatley’s claims as “FALSE.” Whatley had not “produced any evidence” backing his claims.

Whatley is desperately lying to cover up his own record of backing cuts to state and federal law enforcement, which he called “vital” and “fundamental.”

Read more about Whatley’s lies below.

WRAL: Fact check: Whatley says ‘Cooper bears direct responsibility’ for Charlotte stabbing

Paul Specht and Will Doran | September, 12, 2025

• Republicans are trying to blame North Carolina’s former governor for policies that, they say, enabled a fatal stabbing on Charlotte’s rail system.
• Asked for evidence that Cooper “bears direct responsibility” in the killing, Whatley’s campaign cited a task force Cooper created in 2020 that recommended changes to the criminal justice system, such as implementing cashless bail. Cooper told the group at the time that he looked forward to implementing their recommendations.
• However, PolitiFact found no evidence that the task force or its recommendations played a role in Brown’s release that year or earlier this year. 
• Whatley’s campaign noted that Brown was released in September, three months after Cooper created the state Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.
• But the report had no bearing on Brown’s release from prison.
• Brown served 100% of his sentence and was not released early or paroled, the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction told PolitiFact. And the task force didn’t publish its recommendations until December 2020 — three months after Brown had already been released.
• Further, North Carolina governors don’t have any power over who goes to prison. They have some power over who gets out because they can issue pardons or commutations. Cooper, who was governor from 2017 through 2024, did no such thing for Brown.
• At the briefing, a reporter asked Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, which of the task force’s recommendations contributed to Zarutska’s death. Berger didn’t provide an answer…
• Neither Berger nor Whatley produced any evidence that the magistrate consulted the task force’s recommendations before releasing Brown after his January arrest.
• Our ruling: False

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