As strong proponents of liberty for all and as stewards of our community, we at the Libertarian Party of Union County are always looking for ways to help our neighbors in their fight for freedom and the truth.
At the beginning of February 2022, were made aware of an incident where on October 13, 2021, disabled homeless veteran Joshua Rohrer and his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder service dog Sunshine had a horrific encounter with the Gastonia Police Department (GPD). The while GPD officers were attempting to place Joshua under arrest for panhandling, one of the officers claimed that Sunshine bit him and he tased her, causing her to run away. Sunshine was later given to someone to watch her while Joshua was in jail, slipped her collar and is believed to have been struck by a vehicle causing her death.
Ever since Joshua’s arrest, the Gastonia Police Department and District Attorney (DA) have fought to keep the police body camera footage from being released. When we heard about the GPD and DA refusing to release the body camera footage of the incident we knew we wanted to help. Ever since, members of the Libertarian Party of Union County have been attending monthly rallies to demand the release of the body camera footage, which was finally released on July 28, 2022. The footage, linked below, shows why the GPD and DA were fighting to keep this footage from being released sooner. While this was a huge victory, the fight is still not over.
We are aiming for two things: to have the officers who were in the wrong held accountable and to work on reforming the North Carolina body camera law.
Joshua and Sunshine’s story has gotten national coverage and is gaining momentum every day. Even former Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Candidate Spike Cohen has been out to the rallies and has spoken on Joshua and Sunshine’s behalf.
Follow these links below to learn more about Joshua and Sunshine’s story:
For Justice. For Sunshine (The Sunshine Project)
Video of homeless veteran’s controversial arrest in Gastonia released (The Carolina Journal)
If you are able to help Joshua financially, please consider a donation to his GoFundMe (organized by Gina Ramsey)