An officer-involved shooting outside of a gay dive bar, Shakey’s, in downtown Asheville, N.C., left one man dead Wednesday.

The bar released a statement the following morning regarding the incident, stating that bar staff had asked a patron to leave earlier in the night citing concerning behavior. The bar said that later the man was spotted with a gun in the parking lot.

The bar proceeded to call 911, locked the doors to the establishment, and followed dispatcher instructions on how to keep patrons of the bar safe while officers arrived. These protocols included getting patrons away from the windows and staying low to the ground.

According to Shakey’s, shots were fired outside of the business. When the Asheville Police Department officers arrived, they fired back. The individual died from their injuries, according to the police.

“Because of everyone’s quick actions, cooperation, and concern for one another, every customer and every employee inside Shakey’s made it home safely. We are incredibly thankful,” Shakey’s said on their Instagram page. They thanked Asheville police, emergency dispatchers, EMS, and all first responders who were on scene.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Chad Flowers, stated that the suspect involved in the shooting was Arturo Castillo Palomar.

The Washington Blade reached out to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for a comment regarding the possibility of the event being considered a hate crime. They said the issue is currently under investigation and that the findings would be turned over to the district attorney for review.

Anti-trans legislation passed this week by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled General Assembly will now head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, potentially setting up a showdown with just a few days before the legislature is set to break for the summer recess.

State Rep. Allison Dahle (D-Wake) told the Washington Blade during a phone interview Monday that she was “as confident as I can be” that Stein will reject the bills and also that her Democratic colleagues will line up behind him to block Republicans if they try to override the governor’s veto, which would require support from three-fifths of the House and Senate.

At the same time, there is a good chance one or two members will decide the outcome. Holding 30 of the 50 Senate seats and 71 of the 120 House seats, Republicans can clear the three-fifths threshold so long as there are no defections or abstentions and at least one House Democrat joins with the GOP caucus to override a veto.

Additionally, Dahle stressed that there are no guarantees, particularly as redistricting and shifting demographics can upend expectations for how legislators might ultimately come down on controversial votes. For example, legislation easing gun control restrictions was vetoed last week but remains in limbo because 10 House Republicans did not vote while two joined the unified Democratic caucus in opposing the bill. 

With respect to the anti-trans bills passed this week, Dahle said she will “work within every inch, every millimeter of my power” to stop them from becoming law. 

First was the Parents Protection Act, which per the Associated Press would “shield parents, guardians and caregivers from being cited for child abuse or neglect because they ‘raise a juvenile consistent with the juvenile’s biological sex,'” and prohibit adoption agencies from denying applicants based on their “unwillingness to allow the child to transition.”

The General Assembly passed the measure Monday with nine House Democrats joining with the GOP caucus. If those margins hold, Republicans would easily have enough support to override a veto. 

On Tuesday, the North Carolina Senate passed a bill aimed at strengthening protections against the online sexual exploitation of women and children, legislation that had earned broad bipartisan support before Republican senators led by Buck Newton (Wilson) tacked on a series of anti-trans measures in committee last week, costing four votes from his caucus. 

The provisions targeting transgender rights are effectively extensions of culture war legislation  that was passed in 2023 during North Carolina’s last legislative session with Republicans overriding a veto from then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Specifically, the bill passed on Tuesday would (1) extend the existing ban on most gender-affirming care for minors such that prisoners would not receive state funded gender transition hormones and therapies, (2) require officials who provide new birth certificates with updated gender markers to attach the original document with the individual’s birth sex, and (3) affirm the restrictive definitions for sex and gender that were outlined in President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 “Defending Women” executive order.

Implications extend well beyond NC

North Carolina’s politics are often eyed as a bellwether or harbinger of trends and developments well beyond its borders because the state’s electorate is closely divided, races are often decided by razor thin margins, and control of the three branches of government is split between the two parties.

One clear take away from the anti-trans bills passed by the General Assembly this week, as noted by the AP, is how closely these efforts align with Trump’s policy agenda in his second term. 

Dahle suggested that the culture war bills proposed and supported by her GOP colleagues, including those now awaiting Stein’s signature or veto, reflect the extent to which far-right wing advocacy groups are increasing their influence and exercising their leverage over conservative-led policymaking in the Tar Heel State.

Asked whether she thinks the battle over trans rights legislation in her state will have national implications, Dahle said North Carolina and Texas tend to be where Republicans launch trial balloons to see how far they can push their extreme policy proposals and their efforts to, for instance, undermine elections or redraw district maps to disadvantage Democrats.

She pointed to Allison Riggs, a Democrat who was sworn into the North Carolina Supreme Court on May 13, more than 180 days after she was elected and following a months-long battle in which her Republican opponent and his allies and supporters sought to throw out more than 68,000 votes. Riggs during the ceremony called out “efforts to undermine our rights and our democracy.”

“That was a test case,” Dahle said. “They felt like they had to try.”

With respect to efforts to undermine trans rights through legislation, Dahle said arguments against government involvement in the private lives of its people that might once have appealed to conservatives or libertarians are not picking up traction.

“None of the old school Republicans are left,” she said. Those who have left the General Assembly “know that this is wrong,” while GOP members currently serving either believe these bills serve the best interests of their constituents because “they’ve been fed a line of B.S.” or “they’re just not paying attention and they’re voting with their caucus.”

Dahle continued, “The bills are so extreme. They’re going over anything and everything having to do with transgender people. I mean, anything that has to do with care. I still, for the life of me, don’t know how this has anything to do with family values.”

She added that Republican colleagues promised during debate over a book ban proposal earlier this year that it would be the last culture war bill for a while. “it was pretty much over, or that’s at least what I was told by my colleagues on the other side, and then this one just came out of nowhere.”

The North Carolina General Assembly overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes of three anti-transgender bills in a late session Wednesday.

Cooper vetoed House Bill 574, House Bill 808 and Senate Bill 49 on July 5, stating in a press release the measures were “a triple threat of political culture wars using government to invade the rights and responsibilities of parents and doctors, hurting vulnerable children and damaging our state’s reputation and economy … .”

HB 574 bans trans girls and women from playing on girls and women’s middle school, high school and college sports teams. The House of Representatives overrode the veto by a 74-45 margin. The Senate followed suit. 

“Since 2019, there have been only two transgender girls playing sports in the state of North Carolina … these girls are certainly not trying to destroy women’s sports. These girls are just trying to belong,” state Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-49) said.

HB 808 bans all health providers, public or private, in the state from providing gender-affirming care to minors. House lawmakers voted 73-46 to override the governor’s veto. The Senate followed suit by a 27-18 vote margin.

“This may be the most heartbreaking bill in a heartbreaking session,” state Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-13) said. “This bill tells parents how to raise their kids … There have been so many families who have pleaded with us, testified before us, about this bill … The implication is somehow 30 people in this room know better than the families and children who know the pain we’re putting them through …”

SB 49 requires public school staff to tell parents and guardians if a student asks to use a new name or set of pronouns. The Senate overrode the veto by a 27-18 vote margin, followed by a 72-47 House vote. Some teachers are already planning to protest and act against the bill, according to the Associated Press.

“The legislature finally comes back to pass legislation that discriminates … Yet they still won’t pass a budget when teachers, school bus drivers and Medicaid Expansion for thousands of working people getting kicked off their health plans every week are desperately needed,” Cooper said in a press release prior to votes. “These are the wrong priorities, especially when they should be working nights and weekends if necessary to get a budget passed by the end of the month.”