'They've Lost Their Minds'

Overheard—along with "they's crazy" mumbles—when microphones were still hot after a June 3, 2024, Hoke County Commission meeting, after which Leach ordered staff to 'Git 'em outta here.'

We’ll let you decide which elected officials delivered the “They’ve lost their minds” and the “They’s crazy” comments. This incident was just brought to our attention after we posted video of the most recent law enforcement escorted expulsion of a resident, which took place Monday, April 7, 2025.

The video below is edited to 30-seconds from the official Hoke County post of the meeting (available in full here). The audio is bad in the original file, but it’s been boosted in our version.

It’s not the first, or last, time constituents who attended a commission meeting have been the recipients of verbal abuse, threats of arrest and expulsion by law enforcement. The accelerating pace of incidents includes a woman in May, 2024, only a few weeks before the above incident.

A constituent was also removed after expressing support for a volunteer firefighter who addressed the commission with concerns that Hoke County’s chronically low water pressure was endangering lives and homes. The heated exchange was preceded by James A. Leach telling the first responder, “You have no relationship with the truth at all.”