Peter Hull Gilbert, a lawyer who works for Legal Aid NC was arrested in 2017 in a Durham at a protest-riot that turned destructive. He was one of the protesters that tore down a statue commemorating confederate soldiers who had died in the Civil War.
Gilbert is married to Elena Everett. Everett is the Founder and Director of Action for Community in Raleigh where Gilbert is the Board Chair and she is Director of Southern Vision Alliance – SVA where Gilbert is the Board Secretary. Everett was also charged in the destruction of public property
Legal Aid is a Leftist non profit that receives millions of dollars from North Carolina’s flagship progressive funder, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
The General Assembly cut funding for Legal Aid of NC in 2017. Legal Aid NC and two other similar groups had already seen their state funding cut to $2.7 million, down from $6.3 million, eight years ago . The 2017 budget provided further cuts to $1.1 million. While Legal Aid of NC suggested that they didn’t understand why their funding was cut by the General Assembly, Tim Moore, Speaker of the State House of Representatives suggested t that the groups were hurting “mom and pop” landlords by filing frivolous motions and other legal tactics that would allow non-paying tenants to remain in a dwelling for longer periods of time. Moore also suggested that private lawyers should be performing more of this civil litigation for free.
Legal Aid NC is housed at the same address as the premier radical-Leftist group The Justice Center and its media outlet, NC Policy Watch.
Legal Aid of NC receives other funding from federal grants, state and local Bar associations, state court fees and charitable organizations. Nearly half of their funding comes from the Federal Legal Services Corporation which is funded by a Congressional Appropriation.