NC Senate candidate Cooper appointed former gang member to task force when governor

September 1, 2026 (Washington Free Beacon primary report; Just the News secondary Sept. 6, 2026)

Sources

  • Official appointment (July 9, 2020): Governor Cooper Appoints Members to North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice — NCDOJ repost of Office of Gov. Roy Cooper release. Lists Kerwin Pittman of Raleigh as a justice involved individual representative; Founder and Executive Director of Recidivism Reduction Education Program Services; also on the state re-entry council collaborative. Co-chairs: Justice Anita Earls and Attorney General Josh Stein.
  • Task force / EO framing (state archive page): Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC) | NC Governor — states Cooper established TREC through Executive Order 145 in June 2020; roster includes Mr. Kerwin Pittman | Founder, Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs Services; recommendations submitted Dec. 14, 2020.
  • Executive Order 145 PDF: files.nc.gov … EO145-Criminal-Justice-Reform.pdf — Access Denied (403 / S3 AccessDenied) to automated fetch and curl this pass. Do not invent EO text. Cite governor TREC page + NCDOJ for establishment/appointment; search-indexed snippets elsewhere indicate dated June 9, 2020, but treat full EO text as not independently retrieved here.

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