North Carolina Libertarian Senate Candidate Arrested After Live-Blogging Armed Standoff With Police
Jonathan D. Miller, the Libertarian Party's nominee for a North Carolina state Senate seat covering much of Cary, was arrested at about 3 p.m. Monday after an hours-long standoff with police that ended in the woods behind his apartment, according to WRAL. No shots were fired, and no one was reported hurt.
Cary police say it began with calls from people worried about social media posts in which Miller threatened to harm himself. Officers could not reach him earlier in the morning, then an officer encountered him on another welfare check. WRAL puts the visit to his home on Glen Echo Lane at about 8:26 a.m. Police Chief Terry Sult told reporters: "At that point, he had a firearm. He was ordered not to touch it. He got it and then he took off running."
Miller gave a different account in several calls to WRAL from the woods. He said he was outside smoking when an officer saw a holstered revolver on his hip and drew his own weapon. "I told him I was going to refuse that order, and I backed away slowly until I was far enough away from him to turn and run, and then I turned and ran into the woods," he told the station.
He kept posting on X as the standoff went on, describing his efforts to evade police and his talks with a negotiator. "I've got six shots and the high ground. I hope they don't find me, but if they do it's going to be a hell of a show," he wrote in one post, according to BNO. WRAL reports that his posts from Sunday night onward also described suicidal feelings. Libertarian presidential nominee Chase Oliver was among those who urged him not to take his own life or fight police.
Sult said police monitored the posts while negotiators, the Wake Regional SWAT team and tactical medics worked the scene. Glen Echo Lane and Audubon Parc Drive were closed, and nearby Resurrection Lutheran School, a private school, was under a code yellow lockdown for part of the day. Miller told WRAL he was hiding because he did not want to be taken into custody and confined to a hospital, and that he hoped police would give up so he could leave Cary.
The chief thanked WRAL for taking the calls, saying police listened in with the station's permission and gave guidance to the person talking with Miller. He described Miller as "in a dark place," WRAL reports.
Miller was charged with communicating threats, resisting officers and going armed to the terror of the people, and is held at the Wake County Detention Center. Sult said police have also obtained warrants for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He said Miller still had a weapon when he was arrested but could not say what type. These are allegations; neither outlet reports a bond or a court date.
The seat is held by Democratic Sen. Gale Adcock, WRAL reports, and the Republican nominee is Philip Hensley. Miller appears on the Libertarian Party of North Carolina's 2026 slate for District 16. Election Day is Nov. 3.
