Hillsborough, NC – A Burlington man was charged Thursday night with violating North Carolina’s pandemic restrictions after representatives from Orange County responded to a report from a major New Year’s Eve celebration in Hillsborough.
A tent had been set up outside the Palmers Grove Community Center, at 1021 Palmers Grove Church Road, and deputies said there were about 100 people inside.
Jacob Alfred Kurtis Bethea, who hosted the party, called New Years in the Valley and advertised it on social media as “the largest New Year’s Eve party in the state,” authorities said.
Party attendees purchased tickets online before receiving the meeting address. Deputies found about 10 people armed with semi-automatic pistols providing security to the party, and one even carried an AR-15 rifle, authorities said.
Bethea, 30, was charged with violating executive orders over mass meeting limits and operating an entertainment facility that should be closed. Delegates also served him with an outstanding Guilford County warrant accusing him of violating mass meeting limits with a September event.
He posted on Facebook Friday night, “Man I made the news last night, yeah I’m locked up for throwing a party for my people but I don’t care that it’s f ****** new year we’re having fun have to have.”