Do you remember when all those statues were falling in June and it seemed as if it was a free-for-all?
Well, it wasn’t a free-for-all in Portsmouth Virginia where the Portsmouth Police department has charged Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth with two felony charges over her role in the toppling of a Confederate statue in Portsmouth in June, police announced Monday.
BREAKING: St. Senator Louise Lucas has been charged with two felonies by @PortsmouthPD with for the incident at Confederate monument in June @WAVY_News. Police Sources say conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument. News conference at 4. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/cfTPUJ1kwU
— Jason Marks (@jasonmarkstv) August 17, 2020
#Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas turned herself in to the sheriff’s office after she was charged in connection to the dismantling of a #Confederate statue that left a man seriously injured in June in the midst of #BlackLivesMatter protests and riots. https://t.co/u5NdGymIAl
— NTD News (@NTDNews) August 19, 2020
Chief Greene has felony arrests warrants for the following:
Sen. L. Louise Lucas
James Boyd (NAACP)
Mr. Gibbs (NAACP)
LaKeesha Atkinson (school board)
Kimberly Winbush (community leader)
And more.@WTKR3 https://t.co/x44twE1vSp pic.twitter.com/qAGgn9nY8N— Nana-Séntuo Bonsu (@NSBonsu_) August 17, 2020
BREAKING: State Sen. Louise Lucas, local NAACP leaders among those charged in Portsmouth Confederate monument destruction
— The Virginian-Pilot (@virginianpilot) August 17, 2020
Richmond Times had this to say about the Senator receiving two felony charges:
Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, is facing two felony charges over her role in the toppling of a Confederate statue in Portsmouth in June, police announced Monday.
Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene said the charges are the result of a weekslong investigation into the June 10 incident, which left a local man critically injured after the statue fell on him during a protest.
The charges against the high-profile lawmaker come a day before the start of a special session of the General Assembly on COVID-19 and police reform. Democrats hold a 21-19 edge in the Senate, and if Lucas is absent, it could threaten parts of the Democrats’ agenda.
Lucas, a senator since 1992, is president pro tempore and presides over the Senate in the absence of the lieutenant governor.
Lucas and six others, including local NAACP leaders and a local school board member, were charged with conspiring to commit a felony, and felony injury to a public monument in excess of $1,000, Greene said Monday.
Greene did not expand on Lucas’ role leading to the charges, but a video from the afternoon on June 10 posted on Lucas’ Facebook page weeks ago shows the lawmaker saying before a group of officers that the monument is public property and that police cannot arrest protesters.
As for the people who were charged, Greene said: “I am asking for these persons to immediately turn themselves in to the Portsmouth Police Department.”
Fox News reported this about the Senator being arrested:
A Virginia state senator has been charged with damaging a Confederate monument in Portsmouth during protests that also led to a demonstrator being critically injured when a statue was torn down, authorities said Monday.
Sen. Louise Lucas faces charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000, Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene said during a news conference. The protest occurred in June.
Lucas is a longtime Democratic legislator and a key power broker in the state Senate, joining the chamber in 1992. The charges were filed the same week Virginia lawmakers are taking up dozens of criminal justice reforms during a special legislative session.
The reaction from some of her fellow Democrats was swift.
“It’s deeply troubling that on the verge of Virginia passing long-overdue police reform, the first Black woman to serve as our Senate Pro Tempore is suddenly facing highly unusual charges,” Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, tweeted on Monday evening.
Democrats hold a 21-19 advantage in the Senate, and if Louise is not present, it could rain on the Democrats parade and put a halt to their agenda.
Do you think the Senator should receive a Felony or do you believe it’s too much of a penalty?
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