Triangle NAACP Leader Asks Feds to Review Henderson Atwater Case

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Good morning, readers.

The NAACP is making another push for federal intervention in the Henderson Atwater case. 

In a press conference outside the state legislative building last week, Raleigh-Apex NAACP president Mark Vasconcelles called on the Department of Justice to review Atwater’s 2024 conviction, which landed the Holly Springs man a prison sentence of 49-72 years for a series of nonfatal air gun shootings.

There are legitimate concerns about how Atwater’s prosecution was handled, including crucial evidence being lost and prosecutors lumping together numerous incidents despite only having evidence for a few.

But Vasconcelles’s 25-minute speech, like some other advocacy efforts meant to help Atwater, oversimplified a complex investigation in ways that echoed the defense’s own stumbles during trial.

Vasconcelles declined to take questions at the press conference and did not respond to emailed questions from the INDY.

Read the full story here. Have a good Wednesday.

—Lena

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