Fact-check: Did Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam visit North Carolina during a lockdown?
The claim: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam violated his state's stay-at-home order to travel to North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Did Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia violate his own stay-at-home order to visit North Carolina's Outer Banks during several weekend trips in April?
That's what some Facebook users have said. A picture of two cars parked in front of a home allegedly located in the town of Manteo on North Carolina's coast was posted to the Facebook page Coastal North Carolina Fishing Report on April 21. The page collects saltwater fishing reports in the area.
"Why is the Governor of Virginia allegedly secretly flying back and forth to his home in Manteo? Doesn't this violate his own orders?" read the caption for the post. No one, including Northam, appears in the image.
A house resembling the one in the post is owned by a Ralph Northam with a mailing address matching that of the governor's office in Richmond, Virginia, according to Dare County tax records. The two-story property is located on Ballast Point Drive in Manteo.
Independent news website Big League Politics reported Northam was seen boarding a flight to North Carolina on Monday. Several other blogs, like Blunt Force Truth and First in Freedom Daily, carried the story.
"Eyewitness accounts describe Northam as leaving Virginia, flying into North Carolina’s Dare County with the use of a private plane," Big League Politics reporter Richard Moorhead wrote.
The story also referenced an April 21 Facebook post by user Jake Hiles. He is the captain of Matador Sport Fishing Charters in Virginia Beach, according to its website.
In his post, Hiles said he had spoken with a number of people in Dare County – where Manteo is located – who told him they have seen or heard of Northam traveling to and from the house. "EVERYONE becomes suspiciously quiet and (off-the-record) says they are sure Northam is there but (on-the-record) do not want their name tied to it," he posted.
Hiles attached a picture of a vehicle – allegedly a Ford Excursion SUV with the license plate number "VMI OB1" – to the Facebook post. The plate number is an apparent reference to Northam's time as a student at the Virginia Military Academy.
The SUV is not one of two vehicles pictured on Coastal North Carolina Fishing Report's Facebook page, but Hiles claimed the car was moved on the evening of April 21.
Moorhead questioned if Northam violated two state laws by traveling out-of-state in his story on Big Leagues Politics.
"This sort of luxury travel is expressly forbidden under multiple stay at home orders ... Dare County has also enacted a restriction on travel into the county on individuals who are not North Carolina residents, placing Northam in violation of the county’s restrictions by entering the area as a Virginia resident," Moorhead wrote.
USA TODAY confirmed that visitors are currently prohibited from entering Dare County due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Alena Yarmosky, press secretary for Northam has not yet responded to a USA TODAY request for comment. However, Yarmosky told the Associated Press the governor has not left Virginia since stay-at-home orders were implemented on March 30.
“Gov. Northam has been working on behalf of Virginians seven days a week and has not left the Commonwealth since stay-home orders went into place. Anything else is a lie. People spread lies all the time for political gain, and they should be ashamed of themselves,” Yarmosky said.
Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Va., who has said she will run for governor in 2021, said in a Facebook Live post on Tuesday that she was investigating reports from constituents that the governor traveled to North Carolina.
"I have people from sheriffs (offices) and police departments sending me pictures of Governor Northam going on the weekends to Manteo in the Outer Banks," she said. "I do have an investigator that is looking into that."
USA TODAY spoke to Lt. Kevin Duprey of the Dare County Sheriff's Office on Friday. According to him, Northam's trips to North Carolina are unconfirmed.
"We cannot confirm that the governor has been to Manteo," Duprey said.
Chase later told constituents in another video posted Wednesday that her investigator could not corroborate the claims.
"Our initial reports are that this is a false claim," she said. "We're still looking into this, but I wanted to let you know that the people I have looking into this are finding that this claim is unfounded and not true."
Chase's office did not respond to a request for further comment.
Our rating: False
Alleged statements from witnesses who say they spotted Northam in Manteo are hearsay. Despite posts to social media and on unverified news blogs, there is no proof that the governor violated state laws to travel to North Carolina. Republican Sen. Amanda Chase, who said she hired an investigator to look into sightings of the governor, noted the rumors were found to be untrue. Though cars were photographed in front of a house reportedly belonging to Northam, it is not known to whom they belong. Northam does not appear in the pictures.
Our fact-check sources:
Associated Press contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam didn't travel to NC beach home
