Confronting Wake Forest tyranny in its modern forms requires understanding its historical roots. My family has been on this continent for 12 generations. We were here before Wake Forest was a town, before North Carolina was a state, and before the United States was a country.
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My ancestors funded militias. They were statesmen, educators, and business owners. And when a tyrannical King across the ocean tried to dictate how free people should live, they didn’t politely disagree. They fought. They ejected the King’s enforcers and the local loyalists—the Tories—who sided with tyranny over their own neighbors.
A screenshot obtained from the private “Franklin County Patriots” Facebook group (391 members), where the call to action regarding the Pride Fest originated. The image was shared with Wake Forest Matters via an anonymous email account.
The Order: Surveillance of Families
The name of the original poster was removed from the image shared with Wake Forest Matters.
A specific flyer was circulated within these channels. It didn’t just tell people to show up and pray. It instructed them to film children. It ordered them to take photos of license plates. This was not a protest. It was an operation. The moment the first Pride was announced in 2024, the targeting began, and it has not stopped. Agitators poured in from nearby Franklin County towns—Youngsville, Louisburg, and Franklinton—as well as from communities throughout the Triangle. They also traveled from other states, including Virginia, Georgia, and Oklahoma, and were deliberately unleashed on our families like a weapon. The current moral panic we are all living in was created to weaponize harassment against the LGBTQ+ community, in an attempt to excise them from society. These are totalitarian tactics at play in our own backyard.
The Definition of a Modern Tory
In the 1770s, a Tory was someone who lived among you but served the interests of the Oppressor. They were the ones who reported their neighbors to the Crown. They were the ones who chose the King over the Commons.
Look at what is happening in Wake Forest today.
When you invite strangers to come into your town and harass a local teenager, you are a Tory.
When you circulate a flyer telling people to take photos of your neighbors’ license plates, you are a Tory.
When you side with a political machine against the peace and privacy of your own community, you are a Tory.
These people claim to be “Patriots,” but they are engaging in the exact behavior that the actual Patriots of 1776 went to war to stop: oppression, intimidation, and the suppression of free assembly.
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Ejecting the Tyranny
My family helped kick the Tories out of this region centuries ago because there is no room for tyranny in a free society. Today, the battle isn’t fought with muskets; it is fought with truth, with light, and with a refusal to yield the Commons. We know who circulated the flyer. We know who runs the Facebook groups.
We know who invited the harassment. You are not invisible. To those who think they can bully this town into silence: You are betting against history. You are acting like the redcoats and the loyalists who believed they could rule by fear. You lost then. You will lose now. Wake Forest belongs to the free. And we aren’t going anywhere.
To my neighbors in Wake Forest: The integrity of our community depends on our collective resolve. We must stand together against these external forces of division. I call on you to commit to unity, equality, and justice for every resident. Let us ensure that our shared home is defined by peace, respect, and freedom—not by the politically motivated harassment directed upon our town by outsiders.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
This essay draws on historical language to stress the seriousness of the organized intimidation our community is facing. Let me be absolutely clear: this is not a call for violence or physical revolt. The “battle” I reference is fought exclusively with truth, community unity, and civic engagement—not with muskets or physical aggression.
Regarding harassment, I set the terms on what I consider harassment or a threat. If you choose to harass me—in public or in private—I will publish your name and photo. You do not have the right to do that to me. After ten years of intermittent service in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, I am not intimidated.
Wake Forest Matters is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom covering Wake Forest, NC. We report on local government, schools, business, and community life — free to read and reader-supported. Fearless. Local. Loud.
