Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas is facing charges from a June incident where a Confederate monument was damaged, Fox News reports.
Lucas was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000, Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene announced during a news conference.
The statue was torn down during a protest in Portsmouth. A demonstrator was also critically injured when the monument was being removed, Greene said.
The monument is a large obelisk and has statues of four Confederate military personnel. During protests heads were ripped off some of the statues while one was pulled down.
The lawmaker's attorney Dan Scott told local NBC affiliate WAVY-TV that Lucas will "vigorously" fight the case and be vindicated.
Lucas joined the chamber in 1992. She was charged the same week the state’s lawmakers are scheduled to discuss a swath of criminal justice reforms during a special legislative session, Fox News reports.
"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.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia demanded the charges against Lucas and several others to be dropped. The ACLU said the charges were not approved by the local prosecutor’s office and are therefore an overreach by police.
Stephanie Morales, the Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney, told The Associated Press that her office did not sign off on the police department's charges.
But according to Claire Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, Virginia is one of the few states in which a felony warrant can be filed without a prosecutor's approval.
"These charges are political, and I think they're discriminatory," she said.
The police department is making decisions about who should be charged in a circumstance in which the elected (prosecutor) is being bypassed," Gastanaga added. "The police want a different result."
Greene said "several individuals conspired and organized to destroy the monument as well as summon hundreds of people to join in felonious acts."
She said she made requests to state and federal authorities to conduct an independent investigation of the incident that resulted in costly damages. She added that a discussion with the Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney "did not yield any action."
In addition to Lucas, members of the local NAACP chapter, a local school board member and members of the public defender’s office, are facing charges the police chief said.
Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Rich Anderson said Lucas should turn herself in.
"Felony charges leveled against a sitting state senator are to be taken seriously, and should not be sought out for political gain," he said in a statement. "It is for that reason that the Republican Party of Virginia calls for Senator Lucas to turn herself in. Immediately."
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