How a GOP super PAC tricked a grieving father into appearing in a political ad

On August 5, the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the super PAC of Senate Republicans, announced a new television ad attacking Roy Cooper, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina.

The ad features Ronald Hayes, whose son Shemar was murdered in 2024. In just 30 seconds, it ties Shemar’s murder to Cooper, who served as governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. The blame is pinned on a settlement Cooper reached with the ACLU to release some inmates early during the COVID pandemic. “As the governor, Mr. Cooper was allowing these criminals back on the streets,” Hayes says in the ad. “Is my son going to get a second chance? No, he’s never coming back.”

But in an interview with Popular Information, Hayes says that he was manipulated into appearing in the ad. According to Hayes, the SLF operatives who recorded the footage misrepresented the purpose of the interview, never revealed their political affiliation, and coached Hayes into providing the soundbites that appear in the ad.

Hayes is a member of a group of about a dozen grieving parents whose children have been murdered. The SLF operatives reached out to everyone in the group and offered an opportunity “to share our stories.” Hayes was left with the impression that “we’re doing an ad about gun violence and our deceased kids.”

Hayes said he was interested in “talking about Shemar and what I feel about gun violence.” He had also written a book about Shemar that he wanted more people to know about.

After he agreed to participate, Hayes began to communicate with Michael Luethy. Previously, Luethy worked for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the North Carolina Republican Party, and the Republican State Leadership Committee. Luethy currently runs a Republican consulting firm based in North Carolina called Oak Grove Campaigns.

But Luethy never revealed that he was working with the SLF or his connection to Republican politics. Rather, Luethy represented to Hayes that he was “independent.” Luethy invited Hayes to a luxury home in Charlotte and encouraged him to bring copies of his book. Hayes had never been on camera before.

The SLF paid Oak Grove Campaigns $456.90 on April 30, 2026, for travel. Luethy did not respond to a text message seeking comment.

At the outset, Hayes was given an opportunity to talk about his son and was asked about the book. Then, Hayes said, “all of a sudden, in the middle of the recording, it went from me talking about what happened to my son to Governor Cooper.”

“Well, what do you think about North Carolina letting out 3,500 murderers, rapists, and killers?” Hayes said he was asked. “Of course, I am a victim. What am I going to say?” Hayes said he initially responded without saying Cooper’s name. He was then prompted by the SLF operatives to deliver the soundbite they wanted. “Would you mind saying Roy Cooper?” the operatives asked.

Prior to arriving at the filming, Hayes said, he “never knew anything about the governor of North Carolina letting out 3,500 criminals due to COVID-19 back in 2019 and 2020.” Hayes noted that he knows the policy was unrelated to his son’s murder. (The man who murdered Hayes’ son in 2024 had no prior adult criminal record and, therefore, was not released from prison.) Hayes was distressed when he saw the ad, which makes it seem “as if I’m saying that my son’s murderer was one of the ones who Governor Cooper let out of prison.”

“Why would I go on there and just flat out tell a blatant lie?” Hayes asked. He called the ad “deceitful, conniving, and sneaky.”

Hayes said that the SLF operatives filmed at least two other interviews with members of the grieving parents group, but those were not turned into ads. In both cases, the SLF operatives redirected the discussion from the personal tragedy to a political attack on Roy Cooper.

According to data from AdImpact, the SLF has spent over $6 million airing Hayes’ ad on television and digital platforms. Hayes said the ad has profoundly impacted his day-to-day life. “You would not believe how many people now just walk up to me and ask me, ‘Am I that guy that’s in that commercial?’”

Hayes said he is a Democrat and would not have knowingly participated in a GOP attack ad. “Why would I do a commercial? I’m just an everyday man,” Hayes said. “They targeted me as a victim of gun violence and because of the death of my son.”

Murder as a political football

The Hayes ad is part of a concerted campaign by Republicans to link Cooper to murders with no plausible connection to his policies.

President Donald Trump blamed Cooper for the August 2025 murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed while riding the train in Charlotte, allegedly by Decarlos Brown Jr.

“The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper,” Trump said in a