By N. King Prather
Public Ed Works 

CARY (July 2, 2025) – My daughter, Lindsey Prather, is a public servant, an elected government official. A former educator, at 36 she is the youngest female in the North Carolina legislature. I could not be more proud of her. I could not be more afraid for her life.

A report on political violence by Reuters published in August 2023 noted that we were then already experiencing the most political violence since the 1970s. One distinction being that political violence in the 1970s arose on the left and focused on the destruction of property. The authors found 213 cases of political violence since the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Quoting the report, “Of the 14 fatal political attacks since the Capitol riot in which the perpetrator or suspect had a clear partisan leaning, 13 were right-wing assailants.”

Political violence has only increased in the nearly two years since the report, the floodgates perhaps opening when the President of the United States provided his blessing by pardoning the January 6th criminals and paying $5 million to the family of an insurrectionist who was killed while storming the Capitol. Pardons and paydays as incentive for violence. Stand back and stand by, indeed.

For years MAGA has dehumanized immigrants and people of color, referring to them as “aliens” and “vermin” who travel in waves and floods and swarms and who are poisoning our blood. That dehumanization also focuses on labeling their non-MAGA political opponents as evil and godless, as traitors, as the devil, communists. None of this is true, but words matter. Schools in Oklahoma will be teaching that the 2020 election was indeed stolen. Rhetoric becomes real.

During what one court has already determined was the improper deployment of the National Guard, a US Senator in Los Angeles attempted to ask a question last week of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The response was that he was bounced from the room, floored and cuffed. The Secretary continued her remarks noting that the Feds were “staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.” How many other American cities does MAGA intend to “liberate” from elected officials?

Listen to this language for years and it isn’t much of a stretch from unidentifiable occupants in unmarked vehicles seizing folks on the street to a devotee impersonating a police officer and murdering a member of the Minnesota legislature along with her husband who has ties here in North Carolina. The assailant severely wounded another legislator and his wife. When asked whether he would make a call of condolence to the Minnesota Governor, the President of the United States, without committing to make contact, said the governor was a “terrible governor” who was “grossly incompetent.”

None of this is normal.

Which brings me back to my daughter, who by most all accounts is not terrible, or grossly incompetent. She won her maiden race in her Western North Carolina district with 57% of the vote in 2022 and provided bipartisan representation for her constituents focusing on hometown issues like education and jobs. In response, she was severely gerrymandered by the GOP in their effort to maintain a supermajority. Why not, since the GOP won 60% of the North Carolina Senate with less than 50% of the vote?

Then Hurricane Helene hit. Lindsey stopped campaigning and donated funds to churches, created a public information service and pitched in to help with the recovery. Her constituents noticed. As I worked the polls for her last fall I consistently heard stories from all political affiliations about her availability and transparency. She is a better legislator because of this, but those same characteristics may increase her vulnerability to violence. That scares me. Especially now that the North Carolina legislature is seeking easier concealed carry availability.

Even though the gerrymander failed in a district that the President won by three points, my daughter remains a target of the NC GOP. They have now adopted the language of fear and terror in an effort to remind their followers to hate and hate often. Their recent postcards and social media posts claim that Lindsey has voted “eight times for Criminal Illegals” and would do “ANYTHING to protect criminal illegal aliens from deportation.” Look again at what they are implying about my daughter.

These allegations about my daughter are lies masquerading as hyperbole, and are meant to incite.

I admire my daughter’s resolve and her courage. She has not dropped her language to the level of her opponents, and I am thrilled that Lindsey is continuing to work for the betterment of all of North Carolina.

I am proud to be her father. That does not reduce my fear.

King Prather is a retired attorney who has lived in North Carolina for 35 years. He is the father of three products of the UNC System and a 10-year board member at Public Ed Works.