Written by Christina Williams
Behind the ongoing protest permits being pulled is a man of no consequence, Kirk Rivers. Lately Rivers has been going around to the jobs of various Republicans trying to get them fired for speaking up against the daily protests. He is literally harassing people at their places of employment for exercising their own freedom of speech. He is trying to attack their character for the purpose of silencing opposing voices.
In his attempts to damage the reputations of others, Rivers has failed to keep his own house in order. His business “Rivers Funeral Services” is on record for being shut down by the state of North Carolina in May for failure to file its annual reports. He was too busy protesting to deal with his own paperwork but there is no excuse for all the years before now. Edward Kirk Rivers leaves a long trail of unpaid bills throughout all of Elizabeth City and surrounding communities for many years.
Kirk Rivers whether he chooses not to pay his bills or runs up bills he can’t pay doesn’t care about Elizabeth City or respect the businesses here. He doesn’t pay just about anything he promises to pay where payment isn’t required up front. He takes advantage of everyone, every business, and every situation he can. The man who is closing the streets in front of our downtown businesses and keeping business owners from earning livelihoods can’t keep his own finances in order so he has to mess with everyone else’s like it’s his only job.
Rivers waltzes in and gets permits for protesters to pretty much do whatever they want immediately. Those permits are supposed to specifically state a time, place, and manner. But the routes on the permits issued to Rivers are often not followed. The first time this happened there should not have been any more instant permits issued to the organizer who did not follow their own stated route. Every other group that asks for permits has a waiting period of usually 15 days, but Kirk Rivers gets instant permission to go do as he pleases with his ever shrinking group. There’s a blatant double standard at play when it comes to Rivers.
With Rivers spending so much effort to try to get Republicans fired from their jobs, one would have to think what would happen to his interest in protesting and harassing people if everyone he owed money to suddenly put in that same amount of effort to collect it. If he wasn’t spending so much time protesting for attention and making a martyr of a drug dealer perhaps he could work and earn enough money to pay off some of his collections like a responsible human being.
If Kirk Rivers wants to go out of his way to damage the reputations and livelihoods of others, he should be held accountable to a higher standard himself. I encourage every business that is owed money by Edward Kirk Rivers to take immediate collection actions against him. I highly recommend that businesses in Elizabeth City refuse him service unless he pays up front in full.
This is the man keeping Elizabeth City divided. This is the man keeping our economy from thriving. He is destroying our tourism and destroying our downtown. And now he is attacking individuals’ freedom of speech with job harassment.
What will he get away with next without consequence? What will the City Council and the City Manager keep allowing him to get away with? How much will he continue to hurt Elizabeth City before enough is enough?
Disclaimer: The statements posted here do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire Pasquotank PAC or all Republicans in Pasquotank County.