Compiled from Staff Reports

Currituck County Commissioner Bob White, the current chair, has launched an assault on our journalistic freedoms and legal protections. On January 29, 2024, White submitted a Public Records Request through the county portal, explicitly targeting our sources. White wrongly asserts that Commissioner Paul Beaumont and his wife, Christine, are sources. White missed the mark when he didn’t also seek the records of the other five commissioners and every employee of the county. His actions should give rise to concern among county employees. His actions are not what anyone should expect from most senior positions in the county.

North Carolina recognizes the tort of invasion of privacy, encompassing intrusion upon seclusion, appropriation of name or likeness, public disclosure of private facts, and false light. These principles shield individuals from unjustified intrusions into their private lives, and White, through county staff, may have violated Beaumont’s rights.

While Americans are well-acquainted with First Amendment rights protecting freedom of the press, White’s assertion of a right to information on a private citizen’s phone raises concerns resembling a police state mentality. The county has escalated its actions against Beaumont by publicizing a private family matter.

As part of BlackwaterReport’s routine monitoring of arrest reports and court hearings, our staff discovered a matter deserving of privacy. Director Thom Roddy decided to withhold the report, deeming it not beneficial to the public good. Roddy later reached out to the Beaumonts, offering prayers for their family.

BlackwaterReports, a Christian-based News, Information, and Investigative Reports Media, shares prayers here.

In response to this development, Roddy expressed his dismay, stating that the “weaponization of county staff against an elected official is an abomination.” He emphasized that discretion could have been exercised in releasing a private family matter, and the staff involved should be ashamed for not redacting unnecessary information. BlackwaterReports is exploring its legal remedies.

The full unedited text of White’s public records request is below:

“I Bob White, as the Chairman of the BOC, I am requesting any and all communications between Commissioner Paul Beaumont and Thom Roddy, AKA Blackwater Reports, AKA Veritas Currituck. I am requesting phone texts, call logs, emails, or printed information that may have been used to communicate with Mr Roddy, or Blackwater. The requested time frame is from today January 29th back to October 1, 2023. If Paul used his wife’s phone for such, or her email/computer then those too are in the public domain and are requested. I further request any emails, texts, electronic information sent to his wife Christine Beaumont that may have been used to pass on surreptitiously to Thom Roddy.”