Cyberstalking charges dropped against GOP operative arrested over covert pics of woman in keffiyeh
The former campaign manager for a North Carolina Republican running to oversee public education in the state is no longer facing cyberstalking charges for allegedly snapping covert photos of a woman she then accused of being a Hamas sympathizer.
The Wake County District Attorney’s office has reportedly dropped its case against Jennifer Sloan Rachmuth, who until June oversaw Michele Morrow’s bid for state schools superintendent, who was arrested Sunday over the bizarre incident at a suburban Raleigh supermarket.
Rachmuth is known for her incendiary online posts, according to local Fox affiliate WGHP, which first reported on her arrest. On Monday, Rachmuth told The Independent that she had been informed the charges would soon be thrown out; WGHP viewed court records on Tuesday confirming this.
Police say Rachmuth, 54, took pictures of an employee in the bakery department who was wearing a keffiyeh, a black-and-white Bedouin scarf that has become a symbol of support for the Palestinian people.
“Went to @HarrisTeeter in Holly Springs and saw this Hamas sympathizer,” Rachmuth wrote in an October 31 post on X. “When I asked her why she was wearing a keffiyeh, the store manager told me to leave!!”
On Sunday, Rachmuth was arrested by the Holly Springs PD and hit with one count of cyberstalking over the X post, which were made “for the purpose of terrifying, harassing or embarrassing” the supermarket employee, according to a warrant viewed by WGHP.
“Today I was arrested for making this post 4 days ago,” Rachmuth posted on social media. “I believe the North Carolina Democratic Party is involved. I will fight this and continue to fight against antisemitism on campus and in the public square. @HarrisTeeter and @kroger have been put on notice.”
In an email on Monday, Rachmuth told The Independent that authorities told her she was charged improperly and that the district attorney would be getting the case dropped.
“I will be taking steps to ensure this travesty doesn’t happen to others,” Rachmuth said, without elaborating on why she thinks Democrats are to blame.
Morrow is a homeschooling advocate whose teaching experience consists of little more than a stint with a Christian homeschooling co-op, according to The Intercept.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the charges against Rachmuth have been officially dropped.