Sheriff Terry Johnson of Alamance County ran uncontested in 2018, and has proved to be unfit for his position in 2020 due to his rejection of the First Amendment. 

On June 26, 2020, the Alamance County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook: "no permits to protest in the city of Graham, NC to include the Alamance County Courthouse have been granted, nor will be granted for the foreseeable future. Any group(s) attempting to protest without a permit, will be in violation and subject to arrest." (Source: Alamance County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page) This post directly violates our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, expression, and assembly. A sheriff who believes he is above the Constitution is unfit for his position and needs to be removed.

Once Sheriff Johnson has been removed from his office, there should be an election in either 2020 or 2021 to replace him, and in the meantime the person below him can fill in his position. Sheriff Johnson should not be allowed to fill the position of Alamance County Sheriff due to his violation of our First Amendment rights.

“Tale Of Two NC Sheriffs: Alamance County's Terry Johnson” is an informative, twelve-minute documentary you can watch to learn more about Sheriff Johnson. Linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApGMh3GCxW4

Sheriff Johnson has also been accused of the following:

1. Racial discrimination. It was found that Latinx drivers were between 4 and 10 times more likely to be stopped by Sheriff Johnson’s deputies and that he “explicitly instruct[ed] deputies to target Latinos with discriminatory traffic stops and other enforcement activities.” (Sources: ACLU of North Carolina and the Department of Justice https://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/sites/default/files/Alamance_MSJ_3-3-14.pdf https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-releases-investigative-findings-alamance-county-nc-sheriff-s-office

2. Racial discrimination, again. ICE called Sheriff Johnson "discriminatory," but now pays him to jail asylum-seekers. Sheriff Johnson allegedly called immigrants "taco-eaters" and said in a board meeting in 2019: "The jails are full all over this nation of immigrants, criminal immigrants, not just the ones that came across the border, but the people that are coming here for a reason to victimize our children, our citizens, with drugs, murders, rapes, robberies, you name it." (Sources: The Charlotte Observer https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article233086147.html The Times News of Burlington https://www.thetimesnews.com/news/20190123/alamance-commissioners-ok-28m-ice-jail-upgrades

3. Violation of human rights. Sheriff Johnson partnered with ICE and was given $2.8 million to house federal detainees in the county jail. (Source: ACLU of North Carolina https://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/en/news/north-carolina-sheriff-known-racial-profiling-partners-ice

4. Refusal to acknowledge Governor Roy Cooper's executive order. Sheriff Johnson refused to issue a citation despite Ace Speedway holding a racing event over 25 people with no masks in the middle of a pandemic. (Source: WFMY News 2: https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/sheriff-johnson-will-not-issue-ace-speedway-a-citation/83-40d76479-e338-4aed-a435-fe28d39f96ec

Thank you to everyone who helped contribute to this petition.