The number lawmakers who attended Monday's legislative mini-session barely outnumbered the protesters who came to chat slogans and decry the Republican agenda.
The roughly 30 demonstrators rallied outside about an assortment of issues, from fracking to high college tuition, before marching inside to meet with House Speaker Thom Tillis -- repeating a scene from February when Capitol Police cited an obscure rule invoked by Tillis' staff to remove visitors from the second floor of the statehouse.
Tillis did not attend the legislative session. His staff promised demonstrators a meeting within a month and they left a hefty stack of letters protesting the GOP's tenure.
"He won't even come to his own special session," said Gerrick Brenner, who leads Progress NC, a liberal advocacy group. "Just garbage. Just garbage."
