Virginia State Senator Charged With Felony Vandalism for Attack on Confederate Monument
Richard Moorhead
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A Democratic Virginia State Senator has been charged with two felonies for her role in an attack on a Confederate statue in Portsmouth, Virginia in June. Louise Lucas was charged with conspiring to commit a felony, and felony injury to a public monument in excess of $1,000, according to Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene.
Lucas, who has served in the Virginia Legislature since 1992, is the Senate’s president pro tempore. Videos on her own Facebook page show her present at a June monument destruction attempt, in which one vandal was seriously injured when a falling Confederate statue struck him on the head.
The monument memorializes Confederate soldiers, and does not depict any specific historical figure.
Police Chief Greene is calling upon everyone charged with monument destruction to turn themselves in to the police, immediately. Lucas had previously attacked Greene for her efforts to crack down on statue and monument destruction, claiming she “abdicated her responsibility to maintain peace and failed to uphold the law.”
Controversial Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is lining up behind the cultural vandal Democrat, seeking a free pass for the legislator to attack historical monuments. Northam tweeted that “It’s deeply troubling that on the verge of Virginia passing long-overdue police reform, the first Black woman to serve as our [president] pro tempore is suddenly facing highly unusual charges… [Sen. Lucas], I look forward to seeing you in Richmond tomorrow — so we can get to work.”
Virginia Democrats appear wholly united in defense of vandalism operations. The Virginia Constitution gives legislators immunity from criminal prosecution during legislative sessions, but this immunity does not apply to felony crimes.
You don’t have to like the monuments to Confederate statues, or whatever you think they represent. But destroying public statues commemorating the heritage of the southern United States is a revisionist act of historical extremism.
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