A year ago I began “Virginia Democrats: There They Go Again” as follows:
Just when you thought Virginia Democratic officials could not possibly embarrass themselves more than they have with the governor and attorney general being exposed in old blackface photos, the lieutenant governor being caught with his pants down in sexual abuse allegations from several quarters, and the governor defending fourth trimester post partum-abortion, they have proved they are up to the seemingly impossible task.
I was referring to Virginia Democratic state delegate Ibraheem Samirah, who“has a history of posting virulently anti-Semitic propaganda on his Facebook page to include calling Israel worse than the KKK and questioning the significance of the Holocaust,” who interrupted a speech by President Trump in Jamestown. He was supported by members of the Legislative Black Caucus, who said the slavey anniversary made the appearance of the president “inappropriate.” Neither Delegate Samirah’s disruption nor the boycott by the Legislative Black Caucus was criticized by any other Democrats.
You might think it impossible for a party with a proposal, supported by Governor Northam, to legalize what can only be described as fourth trimester, post-partum abortion, could outdo itself. But you would be wrong.
I describe what they are proposing now in a letter to the editor that appeared in the Charlottesville Daily Progress yesterday:
Leave it to Virginia Democrats to come up with an ingenious solution to a rapidly growing national problem — the felonious assaults on police and other law enforcement officers responding to the recent wave of urban unrest and violence.
There are no definitive numbers, but The Washington Post has reported, quoting Department of Justice data, that: “During two weeks spanning the end of May and the beginning of June, 749 officers were injured while responding to protests and disturbances.” Given the continuing riots in Seattle (59 police injured on one day, July 25), Portland, Chicago, Austin, New York, and other cities, that number is now easily well over a thousand.It appears that Virginia Democrats have now come up with a diabolically clever way to reduce the number of these felonies. As The Associated Press reported recently, they have proposed reducing the penalty for assaulting a police officer from a felony to a misdemeanor. That bill, Senate Bill 5032, is moving through committees as of this writing.“Sen. Scott Surovell, the chief sponsor of the assault and battery bill, said it would eliminate the current mandatory minimum sentence of six months in jail and change the law so the charge can only be brought as a felony if an officer has a visible physical injury,” the AP reported.Surovell is a Democrat, representing the 36th District — parts of Fairfax, Prince William, and Stafford counties.
Punch an officer? Throw her to the ground? Throw a brick or frozen water bottle? Shoot blinding laser lights at her eyes? If SB 5032 passes, these will no longer be felonies unless they result in “visible physical injury” — or perhaps even if they do, since the text of the bill states that if the assailant has “diminished physical or mental capacity or pervasive developmental disorder … a jury or the court may find the accused not guilty.”Seattle, Portland, et al.: Listen up! You want to reduce the number of felonious assaults on your police? Follow the lead of Virginia Democrats and redefine those assaults as misdemeanors. No defunding necessary.John RosenbergAlbemarle CountyInformation links:
