CATAWBA COUNTY — A Democrat running for Catawba County commissioner went on Facebook and asked for a getaway driver — while bragging he already has bail money — if he headed to Charlotte to cause “good trouble” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jesse Alden’s selfie-style reel, packaged by Eagle Media under the banner “DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR CATAWBA COUNTY COMMISSIONER JESSE ALDEN IN HIS OWN WORDS,” clocks in at roughly half a minute. Watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1PNm2XuCfY/?mibextid=wwXIfr
He opens by calling it a hypothetical. Then he drops the mask.
“All right, so just a hypothetical,” Alden says. “If anybody follows me or knows me, they know that f*** ICE and everything that’s happened right now.”
Moments later he pitches the road trip: “Hypothetically, if I were to go down to Charlotte to start some good trouble with ICE — anybody want to be my getaway driver? I got bail money.”
He trails off with “All right, so…”
Bail money, getaway driver, “good trouble”
That is not a zoning complaint. That is a county commissioner hopeful advertising contempt for federal immigration officers, floating disruption in Charlotte, recruiting a driver, and advertising cash for bail — all while hiding behind the word “hypothetically.”
Alden never names a date, a street corner, or a specific ICE operation. He does not have to. The message is the message: Democrat candidate for Catawba County Board of Commissioners, open hostility to ICE, invitation to join him in “trouble,” and a promise that the bail fund is ready.
Eagle Media framed the clip as Alden “in his own words.” Catawba First News transcribed the audio from the circulating video. The Facebook link above is the public source.
Local office, national fight
Catawba County commissioners set tax rates, pass budgets, and run county government. They do not command ICE. Charlotte is a different city and a different jurisdiction. Alden still chose to wrap his campaign label around an anti-ICE rant aimed at Metro Charlotte — and to crowdsource a getaway driver on Facebook Reels, where the clip can reach voters who never crack open a questionnaire.
Democrats spent years insisting “mostly peaceful” covered smashed windows and occupied streets. “Good trouble” is the soft slogan. “Getaway driver” and “I got bail money” are the hard tell.
Catawba First News asked Alden’s campaign for comment. This story will be updated if he answers.
Watch the video: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1PNm2XuCfY/?mibextid=wwXIfr
