RALEIGH (AP) — The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is calling for a mass rally to mark the ninth week of protests at the state legislature and cuts to unemployment benefits.
The NAACP has scheduled a rally Monday behind the Legislative Building, followed by protests to highlight the first day federal unemployment benefits are cut off for 70,000 people. North Carolina is the first state to disqualify itself from collecting extended benefits as state leaders choose to pay down a debt to the federal government faster.
Nearly 600 people have been arrested protesting the policies of the Republican-controlled legislature. The NAACP and its supporters oppose the GOP’s economic, social, education and voting policies.
Republicans control the legislature and governor’s mansion for the first time in more than a century.