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NC State Rep. Got Herself Into a Pickle Sharing Wildly Violent Imagery From 'No Kings Day' Protests

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 16, 2025 4:15 PM

On Saturday, as Townhall has been covering, "No Kings Day" protests took place throughout the country and in Canada, with some particularly notable examples of the extreme rhetoric against President Donald Trump and his administration. One of these examples looks to have created a headache for state Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Democrat representing North Carolina's 36th District.

In a since edited video post to Facebook—though screenshots abound—von Haefen shared an image of a woman caring a banner featuring a guillotine. "IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES, SOME CUTS MAY BE NECESSARY," the banner read. At the end of each side of the banner was a crude fake decapitated head, one being Trump, the other being Elon Musk, with the latter having a swastika on his forehead.

"No Kings Protest in Raleigh. 👑," read von Haefen's post. "Amazing turnout all across the Triangle today, including this event at the Capitol hosted by @wakedems and @ncdemocrats." There were also hashtags included, such as "#lfg," "#nokings," #nokingsprotest," "#nokingsinamerica," "#raleigh," and "#raleighnc."

As many have also pointed out over X, von Haefen has deactivated her X account. She's also released a statement from her Facebook page on Sunday afternoon.

"Yesterday, I posted a video on social media containing crowd photos from the No Kings protest in Raleigh. One of the images of a protestor holding a sign was inappropriate, and I later edited the video to remove the photo," she said.

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"Let me be clear: I condemn political violence in all forms. My focus remains on bringing people together and fighting for the values that matter to North Carolinians. Like so many, I was horrified by the violence in Minnesota. There is no place for that kind of extremism in our democracy, no matter the target, no matter the party," her post went on to mention. The post has restricted comments, though most of the reactions are laughing at the state representative or expressing anger.

On Saturday, the same day as the protests, state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot, and state sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot. Both are Democrats in Minnesota. The suspect, Vance Boetler, has since been arrested and charged with stalking and murder, as well as stalking and shooting. 
That same Facebook page still includes a video post of others at the "No Kings Day" protests. "No Kings Protest in Raleigh! ❌ 👑 Great to see so many people make their voices heard!" von Haefen's post read. While Beyoncé's "YA YA" can be heard in the background, images of others at the North Carolina protests are shown, including one suggesting that Trump is both a rapist and a racist. There's also a woman holding a sign with "gender-affirming care" being one of the values she believes in. The video includes protesters with American flags, but also the Pride flag and Mexican flags. 

For sharing such imagery, von Haefen is facing calls to resign from Wake County GOP and the North Carolina GOP as well. 

In addition to reposting condemnations of the imagery included in von Haefen's post, the NC GOP X account also reposted the Libs of TikTok account sharing their statement calling on the state representative to resign.

Their statement called the social media post "shocking."

Speaker Destin Hall, whom Libs of Tik Tok tagged to insist he say something, has also spoken out against von Haefen over X. 

"Her disgraceful behavior fails to meet the standards expected from House members and sets a dangerous precedent in an already volatile political climate," Hall wrote as part of his post. "I am examining next steps with our legislative attorneys to ensure this behavior does not continue," he concluded, signaling that more could be coming out of this story.