A Virginia assemblywoman who told police they weren’t allowed to arrest rioters tearing down parts of a Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, earlier this summer wants two felony charges brought for her actions on the night to be thrown out.
In court filings released this week, attorneys for Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas argued that a criminal investigation into the Democrat can only be brought by the governor, the attorney general, or a grand jury.
“Permitting any rogue local law enforcement agency to investigate an elected official without oversight would create a system whereby localities could attempt to intimidate and influence state officials at will,” wrote Lucas’s attorneys Don Scott and Verbena Askew.
Lucas was allegedly part of a crowd on June 10 that witnessed protesters beheading four statues of soldiers that were attached to the monument during which one man was seriously injured. In a video obtained by a local news outlet, Lucas can be heard demanding police officers not to arrest protesters at the site.
“I’m telling you, you can’t arrest them,” Lucas told police officers in the video.
Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene brought the charges almost two months after the protest, which surprised many and has led to suggestions that the prosecution is politically motivated.
