Rainey, a former U.S. Army psychological operations officer and conservative activist who has been vocally protesting drag shows, wrote on Facebook shortly after the electricity failed: “The power is out in Moore County and I know why.”

She then posted a photograph of the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines, where a drag show was scheduled for Saturday, and said: “God will not be mocked.”

At Sunday’s news conference, Fields said: “We had to go and interview this young lady and have a word of prayer with her and so, but it turned out to be nothing.”

Asked how deputies had determined Rainey’s posts were false, Fields said it was due to “good law enforcement,” without elaborating. The Moore County Sheriff’s Office and Rainey have been contacted for comment.

Rainey posted on Facebook that her name “has been officially cleared by law enforcement.”

In another post, she said deputies had “wasted their time” by visiting her. “I told them that God works in mysterious ways and is responsible for the outage. I used the opportunity to tell them about the immoral drag show and the blasphemies screamed by its supporters,” she wrote. “God is chastising Moore County. I thanked them for coming and wished them a good night. Thankful for the LEOs service, as always.”

  • Seanchaí (she/her)
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    fedilink
    71 year ago

    “have a word of prayer with her”

    This is perfectly standard police investigation practice. You just go to a person of interest in a terrorism investigation, and you have a good chat with the Lord God. The justice system is truly a thing of beauty.