Roy Cooper appointed Kerwin Pittman — reported to have been affiliated with the Bloods and convicted in a 2007 conspiracy-to-commit-murder case — to a 2020 Racial Equity in Criminal Justice task force created after George Floyd's death. Pittman, now 39, says his criminal activity occurred as a teenager and defended his inclusion by citing lived experience and community work. The Cooper campaign used the report to criticize opponent Michael Whatley; Pittman and Whatley’s campaign did not immediately comment.
Roy Cooper Appointed Ex-Bloods Member To 2020 Criminal Justice Task Force — Report Sparks Debate
Kerwin Pittman talks with reporters about the case against brothers, La Dainian and Paden Fuller, during a press conference held outside the Gaston County Courthouse Thursday morning, August 3, 2023.
Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper appointed Kerwin Pittman, a man reported to have been affiliated with the Bloods gang and convicted in a 2007 conspiracy-to-commit-murder case, to a Racial Equity in Criminal Justice task force created in 2020, according to reporting by The Washington Free Beacon.
Cooper established the task force by executive order in the weeks after George Floyd's death and named then-state Attorney General (now Governor) Josh Stein to lead the panel. The group mixed state officials with community advocates; records obtained by the Free Beacon show Pittman was among those invited to participate.
Emancipate NC's Kerwin Pittman speaks with reporters during a news conference, Aug. 3, 2023, outside the Gaston County Courthouse in Gastonia, N.C.
Public records indicate Pittman was convicted in connection with a 2006 drive-by shooting that killed 19-year-old Jamel Amiens Jeffreys and later served roughly 14 years behind bars after a 2007 conspiracy conviction. Prosecutors in a separate murder trial identified him as a ranking member of the Bloods, per the reporting.
I was asked to contribute to conversations about criminal justice reform because of both my lived experience and the work I was doing in communities. I have never hidden my past. The gang involvement and criminal conduct you reference occurred when I was a teenager and young man at or before the age of 19. I am now 39 years old. I made decisions as a young person that had serious consequences, including spending more than a decade incarcerated,
North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate former Gov. Roy Cooper, right, shares a moment with his wife, Kristin Cooper, left, as he speaks at a primary election night watch in Raleigh, N.C.
Pittman made those remarks to the Free Beacon while defending his role on the task force and emphasizing his community work and lived experience as reasons for inclusion.
At the time the task force was formed, Pittman was working with Emancipate NC. The organization has published content calling for police reform and, in a 2023 blog post cited by the Free Beacon, argued that policing has long been intertwined with maintaining white supremacy.
North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate former Gov. Roy Cooper speaks at a primary election night watch party March 3 in Raleigh, N.C.
Cooper is now running for the U.S. Senate against former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley. When asked about the report, the Cooper campaign responded by criticizing Whatley’s record, pointing to Whatley’s past appointment of a convicted child sex offender to a party role that the campaign said provided access to events with children.
Neither Pittman nor the Whatley campaign immediately responded to requests for comment from Fox News Digital, and the Washington Free Beacon was the source cited for many of the specific claims in the reporting.
Why It Matters
The appointment has become politically sensitive because it touches on debates about criminal justice reform, rehabilitation and public safety, and has been used by Cooper’s campaign to shift attention to the records of his opponent. The inclusion of individuals with lived experience of the criminal-justice system on reform panels is common, but invites scrutiny when those individuals have serious violent convictions.
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