Hundreds of supporters crowded the third-story balcony above the 84 participants in civil disobedience plus media covering the prohibited peaceful gathering at the NCGA on June 10, 2013.

The start to yesterday's Moral Monday at the N.C. General Assembly in Raleigh was delayed a bit because of tornado warnings and a sudden spate of harsh weather, but pouring rain didn't dampen the spirits of the many hundreds of protesters who gathered at the Halifax Mall behind the General Assembly building to speak out against the raft of odious bills being pushed through the state legislature by the Republican supermajority.

The total number of arrests in six waves of what the NAACP-North Carolina has dubbed "Moral Monday" was brought to 388 by the 84 people (myself and a couple other Kossacks, including the fantastic joank, who was also celebrating her birthday through civil disobedience) who entered the General Assembly to sing songs of resistance, to pray in front of the doors of the second-story N.C. House chambers, and to hold up protest signs (which are prohibited in the building) and refusing to disperse. Click here for the News & Observer's photos of the arrests.

This week, however, an 85th arrest was made: Charlotte Observer religion reporter Tim Funk was handcuffed and detained by G.A. and Raleigh police officers for "failure for disperse." Funk was visibly wearing media credentials and was interviewing Charlotte-area clergy attending the protest and arrests.

We saw Funk amongst us, along with other journalists, and he was clearly taking notes in a notebook, interviewing clergy, not singing or praying, carrying no signs, and holding up his media credentials and explaining his role to the G.A. police officers when they made the dispersal announcements. Those of us near him also explained to officers that Funk was not a green armband (designating civil-disobedience participants) and was not among our group. Nonetheless,

Funk, who was wearing Charlotte Observer identification, was handcuffed and taken along with the arrested protesters to the Wake County magistrate’s office to be arraigned on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and failure to disperse.

Jeff Weaver, police chief for the General Assembly Police in Raleigh who oversaw the arrests, told The Associated Press that Funk did not heed a warning from officers to disperse before the arrests began.

Funk was taken to the Wake County Detention Center with the 84 civil disobedience arrestees and processed for charges, then released around 11 p.m. with the fourth busload of arrestees.

Hi folks. New BlueNC member here. Quickie bio: born and raised in NC, live on the SE Coast in Thom Goolsby's district, more's the pity. For seven years or so, I've written and wrangled content for the History Commons, where I've learned that information is indeed power. Before my arrival, we helped the Jersey Girls force the creation of the 9/11 commission (they provided the activism, we helped with the info), and some of our members have testified before Congress. Our members have produced at least two books and I'm writing a third as we speak. Taught for 21 years. Currently underemployed. Adore my wife and my houseful of cats.

That's done, whew! Now, I proposed a project for the Daily Kos that is delineated here:

NC: Moral Mondays Now Joined by Information Tuesdays (and every day!)

Yesterday, on June 10th, a parade of young children pulling red wagons filled with over 16,000 signatures of North Carolinians asking Governor McCrory to protect our public schools attempted to deliver the signatures to the Governor's Office. The action was part of a rally sponsored by Progress North Carolina, Public Schools First NC and Action NC. As the children lined up at the door with stacks of petitions in hand, a secretary came out to inform the crowd that Gov. McCrory was busy and in a meeting until 5:00 PM. However, a pair of women walking by to join the rally noticed the Governor playing catch with a state trooper and Chief of Staff Thomas Stith, not 50 feet around the corner from the rally, outside a side entrance to the state Capitol. You can see the photos after the jump, as well as photos showing the time stamps proving when they were taken. My question: he knew the kids were there. He ducked them. Why did he go then go outside and very publicly diss these children? What kind of person needs to do that?

We'll start out with a job performance evaluation:

Today's Hypocrite opposes the minimum wage -- even though her job is to protect workers. ow.ly/lsqty#hypocrisync #ncpol #ncga

— Progress NC Action (@ProgressNow_NC) June 11, 2013

Reminds me of that slaver guy on Game Of Thrones who casually slices off the nipple of one of his warriors. That didn't end so well for him.

Observer religion reporter Tim Funk arrested in Raleigh protest (Charlotte Observer) -- Observer religion reporter Tim Funk was arrested Monday at the General Assembly in Raleigh while covering the Charlotte clergy involved in the legislative protests. Authorities said Funk, a veteran Observer reporter who covered the statehouse in the 1980s, failed to move away from a crowd of about 60 that was demonstrating and peacefully surrendering to arrest. Funk, who was wearing Charlotte Observer identification, was handcuffed and taken along with the arrested protesters to the Wake County magistrate’s office to be arraigned on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and failure to disperse. Jeff Weaver, police chief for the General Assembly Police in Raleigh who oversaw the arrests, told The Associated Press that Funk did not heed a warning from officers to disperse before the arrests began. Funk had earlier written about the weekly protests from Charlotte. Monday was his first live coverage of the event in Raleigh. He was released at about 11 p.m. “We believe there was no reason to detain him,” said Cheryl Carpenter, Observer managing editor. “He wasn’t there to do anything but report the story, to talk to Charlotte clergy. He was doing his job in a public place.”

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/10/4098290/observer-religion-re...

I had the chance to meet this talented filmmaker/photographer yesterday. He has produced a lot of videos of the Moral Monday protests, but this time around he was shooting still photography. This really gives you a good sense for what it feels like to be there. These are the "outsiders" Pat McCrory is so scared of.

Poor guy. Can't keep track of who's paying him to do what. This is a screenshot of McCrory's current profile on Linked In. No wonder he paid a $100 million bribe to Met Life. They're still his client!

Wonderful to speak with you more today at the 6th #moralmonday James! Thank you for giving us all a platform to widely share our thoughts with so many others in this state.

This former Republican, white, middle class, less than middle-aged mom's reason to engage in civil disobedience:

I can tell you that I ultimately did this to take a stand for teachers, teaching assistants, parents and children in the state of North Carolina. I spoke out on Monday, taking my activism to a whole new level, so other reasonable people can hear why I did this. It appears as if the main legislators of our focus in doing this continue to choose not to hear the truth. I'm happy we have interested friends here to spread this around like it's gossip~but the good kind that just might work to change the tide of where we want to go forward as a state and in turn a nation-together!

My favorite sign from Moral Monday, June 10,
courtesy of a long-time BlueNC community member, Gray Newman.

There was an impressive crowd of more than 1000 on hand, even though it was storming and raining. I guess that approximately 70 people were arrested. Many were clergy. All were inspiring.

To those who say this isn't changing the minds of any legislators, we get that. This isn't about changing minds. This is about raising consciousness and awareness all across the land that an extreme right-wing political cancer is taking hold of our government.