NEW: I spoke with Portsmouth resident who filed charges against the city’s Black vice mayor for calling for the police chief’s resignation. He say thinks “the race card is played way too much.” huffpost.com/entry/portsmou…
The argument here is that political speech — calling for the police chief to be fired — is a criminal act under the city charter. The idea to file charges here popped up in a Facebook group aimed recalling the vice mayor’s mother, Sen. Louise Lucas. huffpost.com/entry/portsmou…
“Yes, there is racism in the world, but it’s nowhere near as bad as people make it to be,” says the guy who filed criminal charges against Portsmouth’s Black vice mayor for calling for the police chief’s firing. huffpost.com/entry/portsmou…
Here’s the group that accompanied Tommy Dubois when he went to the magistrate to file charges against Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke.
Tommy Dubois claimed his decision to file the charges against Portsmouth's vice mayor had nothing to do with race. He also said he anticipated backlash “because I’m a white with a bald head and I look like a neo-Nazi.” huffpost.com/entry/portsmou…
One key aspect of this broader story is Virginia’s weird magistrate system. Most magistrate positions don’t actually require a law degree, and the positions are often occupied by former cops, probation officers, etc. huffpost.com/entry/portsmou…
The conservative lawyer who first suggested Lisa Lucas-Burke committed a criminal offense by calling for Portsmouth’s police chief to be fired told a radio show that “it’ll be interesting to see how the free speech implications kind of work their way through... this.”
Indeed!
Indeed!
Dubois tells @MargaretMatray he thinks there are racist people in the world but “It’s not as bad as they made it seem.” pilotonline.com/government/loc…
Many white people near Portsmouth want to know why reporters are making this story, which centers upon a monument glorifying the Confederacy and the criminalization of Black politicians’ speech, about race.
Here’s what other white people near Portsmouth are saying:
Here’s what other white people near Portsmouth are saying:
Meanwhile:
