Insurrection in North Carolina

As I write this post, news headlines continue to be dominated by coverage of the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Dozens of people have been charged with crimes so far, and many others are being actively investigated for offenses including curfew violations, property crimes, assault, and possessing unlawful weapons or explosives. Perhaps the most striking allegation, and the one which will serve as the basis for a new article of impeachment against the president, is "insurrection." The criminal courts, or Congress in the case of impeachment, will decide whether the defendants are guilty of those offenses. But it made me wonder, particularly in light of new warnings about similar events occurring at state capitols in the days ahead, what does our law say about insurrection in North Carolina? Vocabulary Primer: Although the words tend to be used almost interchangeably in some contexts, there is a difference between insurrection and other terms like sedition, treason, or coup. Merriam-Webster defines sedition as "incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority." Insurrection is "an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government," while treason is "the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance." Finally, a coup (specifically a coup d'etat) is "the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group." So putting them in a rough order:  sedition could lead to insurrection, which may rise to the level [...]