Ten Years Later, Hillsborough Political Firebombing Remains Unsolved
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Ten Years Later, Hillsborough Political Firebombing Remains Unsolved
Orange County Republicans mark anniversary of 2016 attack as early voting begins; former party chairman recalls the night that changed local politics
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — [October 12, 2026] — Ten years after an arsonist firebombed the Orange County Republican Party headquarters in Hillsborough, the person responsible has never been identified or charged.
As early voting gets under way in another election season, Orange County Republicans are marking the Oct. 16 anniversary of the attack — a moment when political violence struck their community, drew condemnation from both sides of the aisle, and briefly united Democrats and Republicans around a basic principle: political disagreement must never become violence.
Overnight on Oct. 15–16, 2016, someone threw a bottle containing flammable material through the front window of the party’s headquarters at Daniel Boone Village. The fire burned furniture, blackened the walls and melted campaign signs. No one was inside, and no one was injured.
The fire was not the only message left behind. On a neighboring building, someone spray-painted the words “NAZI REPUBLICANS LEAVE TOWN OR ELSE” beside a swastika.
John Gaither, who later chaired the Orange County Republican Party from 2021 to 2025 and now serves as Vice Chairman of the 4th Congressional District, saw the aftermath that Sunday. What he saw has stayed with him for a decade.
“I remember standing in that blackened office. I remember the smell. I remember that burned couch. I remember the melted signs. I remember the American flag, charred but still standing,” Gaither said.
Outside stood the party’s concrete Republican elephant. It had survived untouched. “Still standing guard,” Gaither recalled.
A rare moment of political unity
Two days after the attack, Republican vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence walked through the burned headquarters and called the firebombing “an act of political terrorism.” Hillary Clinton called it “horrific and unacceptable.” Donald Trump condemned it, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory called it an attack on democracy, and North Carolina Democratic Party leaders denounced it as well.
Some of the strongest support came from people who disagreed politically with the victims. David Weinberger, a Democrat from Brookline, Mass., started a GoFundMe campaign to help reopen the Republican office. It raised more than $13,000 — well past its $10,000 goal — in about 40 minutes.
“Even though we deeply, deeply disagree with these people on political issues, we don’t want their offices blown up,” Weinberger told CBS Boston at the time.
“For at least a moment, people across the political divide could agree on something very basic,” Gaither said. “You do not burn your opponent’s headquarters because you disagree with him. You do not threaten your neighbors because of the way they vote. You do not answer political speech with violence.”
Ten years later, no arrest
Investigators followed leads, reviewed evidence and examined cellphone-location data from the area. A reward of up to $20,000 was offered, but no one was ever charged. In January 2026, the FBI confirmed the case had been closed after all viable leads were exhausted, while saying it is prepared to reopen the case if new information comes to light.
“Ten years later, that remains difficult to accept,” Gaither said of the unsolved case.
Anyone with information about the attack is encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.
The reminders are still there
A Trump-Pence campaign sign signed by Mike Pence — inscribed “To our friends in the Orange County GOP, thanks for standing strong” — still hangs in the party’s current office. The charred American flag recovered from the burned headquarters was preserved rather than discarded.
“They are not decorations,” Gaither said. “They are reminders.”
Larry Smith, current chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, said the anniversary is a reminder of how the community responded.
“Ten years ago, someone tried to frighten Orange County Republicans out of the public square. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now,” Smith said. “We remain grateful to every neighbor — Republican, Democrat or unaffiliated — who stood with us. This election season, we’ll keep making our case the way it should be made: in person, at the polls and in good faith. We ask everyone, whatever their party, to do the same.”
For Gaither, the lesson is bigger than one political party.
“Political hatred becomes dangerous when we stop seeing the person on the other side as our neighbor,” he said. “That lesson applies whether the target is Republican, Democrat or Independent.”
“The person responsible has never been brought to justice. But neither intimidation, fire nor hate stopped democracy in Orange County that October morning. The doors opened again. The volunteers came back. And we kept working.”
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Media Contact:
Larry C. Smith
Chairman
Orange County Republican Party
919-245-1777