Libertarian Senate candidate arrested after armed standoff near North Carolina school
Jonathan Miller, a Libertarian challenging a Democratic incumbent for a North Carolina state Senate seat, was arrested Monday after an hours-long armed standoff with police near a private K-8 school, following a series of alarming posts on X.
Police in North Carolina arrested Libertarian state Senate candidate Jonathan Miller on Monday, ending an hours-long armed standoff near a private school. The confrontation unfolded as Miller posted increasingly alarming messages on X, drawing widespread concern and prompting a large police response across the Cary area.
Miller, who is challenging a Democratic incumbent for a North Carolina state Senate seat, began posting around the morning of the standoff suggesting he was being pursued by armed officers. "The whole police department is chasing me with guns drawn. This should be fun," he wrote around 9:38 a.m. In another post he wrote that he had "six shots and the high ground" and warned that if officers found him "it's going to be a hell of a show." Responding to 2024 Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver, who urged him to lay down his arms and surrender, Miller claimed at 10:04 a.m. that he had "reached the tree line," indicating he was trying to hide in the woods.
The episode began the night before. Police said they received calls from concerned members of the public after Miller posted messages Sunday night suggesting he was considering suicide. Officers attempted to check on his welfare Monday morning, and during a subsequent encounter Miller was carrying a firearm. Police said he fled after being ordered not to touch the weapon. Cary Police Chief Terry Sult said Miller had a warrant for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
During the standoff, WRAL, a local NBC affiliate, reached Miller by phone. "Last night I was pretty depressed and suicidal, and I sort of put a suicide note on X, and it has gone quite viral," he told the station. "Actually, millions of people have seen it. I usually get about 50 views on my post, but this one has gone super viral on me." He described spending the night "crying, and angry and upset, and depressed," and said that when an officer approached him outside his home while he was smoking, the officer saw a holstered revolver on his hip, drew a weapon and told him to keep his hands away from it. Miller said he backed away until he could run into the woods.
The standoff took place near Resurrection Lutheran School, a private K-8 school that was placed under a code yellow lockdown for part of Monday while police searched for Miller, according to local reports. Police urged pedestrians and motorists to avoid the surrounding area, citing concern that the public could be put in harm's way. Miller later posted that a hostage negotiator had called him, and that while he was distracted by the call, officers moved in around him. "Luckily I spotted one of them and took off," he wrote around 1:46 p.m.
Around 3 p.m., law enforcement officers closed in on Miller and arrested him without incident. He has been charged with communicating threats, resisting a public officer, going armed to the terror of the people, and possession of a firearm by a felon. Police said no shots were fired during the confrontation. The Libertarian Party of North Carolina told the New York Post that it was "aware of the situation" and thanked law enforcement for "pursuing a solution without involving violence."
Miller is running on a Libertarian platform that includes weakening legal protections for police, repealing drug laws and reducing economic regulations. The case has drawn attention to the intersection of a candidate's public statements, mental health concerns and a law enforcement response in a residential area near a school.
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