Tag: virginia

Spotsylvania’s top prosecutor tells why he won’t enforce tighter gun laws

New Virginia laws banning the sale and transfer of assault weapons go into effect in about five weeks. But at least five conservative prosecutors say they won’t enforce them.

Spotsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Mehaffey said he believes the laws violate the Constitution.

“The Second Amendment is alive and well in Spotsylvania County,” he told News4.

The commonwealth will ban the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic weapons, shifting gun laws to more closely align with states such as California and Illinois. But as Virginia teeters from purple to blue and back again, some elected officials are making clear that the new laws won’t be enforced in their counties.

Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement: “Commonwealth’s Attorneys are elected to enforce our laws, which is what we expect them to do when these laws take effect on July 1.”

The law will make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for people to buy, sell, transfer, import, or manufacture an assault firearm.

Mehaffey said the law is in direct conflict with the Second Amendment.

“It’s fundamentally opposed to a free society, a society where liberty reigns. And this is the moment in time where the Second Amendment was drafted and enacted, where the government couldn’t take the right of the people to defend themselves away,” he said.

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Fairfax County’s Political Ecosystem Protects Illegal Immigrants at the Expense of All Others

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a federal civil rights investigation into Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano over allegations that his office gave preferential treatment to illegal immigrants accused of serious crimes.

This Thursday, mere days after that announcement, Descano—who has received more than $650,000 from George Soros-backed PACs and affiliated groups—is scheduled to testify before Congress at a House Judiciary Committee hearing examining the dangerous consequences of sanctuary policies in Fairfax County, Virginia. 

Indeed, Descano is a key player contributing to the increasingly dangerous environment in Fairfax County. In February, police arrested Abdul Jalloh, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone, and charged him with the fatal stabbing of Stephanie Minter, a 41-year-old mother, at a bus stop in Fairfax County. Jalloh had previously been arrested more than 30 times, only to be released back onto the streets. In more than a dozen of his arrests, Descano’s office entered “nolle prosequi,” a legal term meaning it chose not to pursue the charges. 

Sadly, Jalloh is one of many illegal immigrants in Fairfax County whom Descano was committed to keeping out of jail following violent crimes. In fact, Descano openly stated his intentions on his since-deleted 2019 campaign page. He wrote, “If two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County.” 

The Department of Justice is right to investigate Descano for discriminating against Americans, but he is only the tip of the iceberg. Descano and other county leaders seem to believe that the “values of Fairfax County” include protecting illegal adult criminals in K-12 public schools. 

For background, English language learners are permitted to attend school until they are 22. The number of English language learners in Fairfax County’s schools increased precipitously due to former President Joe Biden’s open southern border and the inception of the sanctuary policy, up to a total of 47,438 English language learning students in 2025. 

Disturbingly, a recent Freedom of Information Act request found that there are 339 adult male English language learning students attending K-12 public schools throughout the county. By design, it is unclear how many of them are in the country illegally.

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HOW CURIOUS: Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger Signing Executive Order to Keep ICE Away From Polling Places 

Virginia’s new Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger has just announced that she is signing an executive order to keep ICE agents away from polling places.

Why do you suppose such a thing would be necessary?

Democrats assure us that illegal aliens are not voting because they are forbidden from doing so by law. So why would they be worried about ICE showing up at polling places? It just doesn’t make any sense.

NBC News reported:

Virginia Gov. Spanberger to sign order on dealing with federal agents at polling places

Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger said Tuesday that she plans to issue an executive order on Wednesday to help election workers respond if federal agents show up at polling sites in Virginia.

Speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, Spanberger said the order would include details on “how Virginia state employees or people working in support of Virginia’s state-run elections can react to, in this particular case, federal agents who might be appearing at a location where the worry is that they’re principally there to intimidate or scare people.”

Some election officials and Democratic politicians have worried that President Donald Trump — who routinely makes false claims of widespread voter fraud — might interference in this year’s midterm elections, which are run by the state and local officials across the country.

“Throughout history, we have seen efforts at intimidating voters. My worry is that we will continue to see those heightened,” Spanberger said. “The reality is that the challenges and the fear that people might have when going to the polling place is real.”

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Virginia Teacher Abby Zwerner Testifies She Warned Assistant Principal Multiple Times Before 6-Year-Old Shot Her in Classroom: ‘He Was in a Violent Mood’

Former Virginia first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner took the stand Monday in the ongoing criminal trial of former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal Ebony Parker, delivering a harrowing firsthand account of how she was shot by a 6-year-old student.

Zwerner described the student’s escalating violent behavior and the repeated warnings she gave school administrators, which she says were ignored before the boy pulled a 9mm handgun from his jacket and shot her in the hand and chest in her classroom in 2023.

Zwerner, who has undergone multiple surgeries and still has bullet fragments in her body, described a student she referred to only as “J.T.” who displayed clear signs of aggression in the days leading up to the shooting at the Newport News school.

Three days before the incident, Zwerner testified that the boy became defiant and slammed her cellphone onto the ground after she instructed him to do something.

On the morning of the shooting itself, she immediately noticed something was wrong.

“The student appeared to be off and appeared to be in a violent mood,” the former teacher told the jury, according to a report from the New York Post.

Zwerner said she went directly to assistant principal Ebony Parker to voice her concerns.

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Virginia Governor Vetoes Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill After Lawmakers Rejected Her Amendments

Virginia’s governor has vetoed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales after lawmakers rejected her proposed amendments to the proposal.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) killed the reform bills on Tuesday, days after signing separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions.

“I share the General Assembly’s goal of establishing a safe, legal, and well-regulated cannabis retail marketplace in the Commonwealth,” the governor said. “Virginians deserve a system that replaces the illicit cannabis market with one that prioritizes our children’s health and safety, public safety, product integrity, and accountability.”

“As Virginia pursues a legal retail market, it is critical that we incorporate lessons learned by other states and ensure that our regulatory framework is fully prepared to provide strong oversight from day one,” she said. “That includes clear enforcement authority and sufficient resources for compliance, testing, and inspections, and robust tools to crack down on bad actors who continue to profit from the illicit market.”

“I greatly appreciate the patrons’ time crafting this important piece of legislation as well as our continued dialogue and collaboration to strengthen this framework ahead of the next legislative session. I remain committed to working with members of the General Assembly, stakeholders, and law enforcement to get this right.”

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The Virginia Democrat Behind the Illegal Theft of Republican Seats Launches Fundraiser for Legal Defense

L. Louise Lucas, the prominent Virginia Democrat who was subject to a recent FBI raid on her home in business as part of a federal corruption and drug probe that began during the Biden administration, has launched a crowd sourced fundraiser to gain cash to pay for her legal defense.

“I have spent my entire life looking for good trouble,” Lucas said in her post on social media advertising the fundraiser. The fundraiser seeks to raise $100,000 for her defense. She has managed to just raise 6 percent of her goal in over a day of begging for help.

 “Lucas faces legal challenges while continuing to stand firm in her commitment to public service and democracy,” the description of the campaign read. “The L. Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund has been established to help provide the resources necessary to support her legal defense and protect her ability to continue serving the community she has fought for her entire life.”

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Virginia Governor Spanberger Rages on X After Supreme Court Kills Democrat Gerrymander

Virginia Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger erupted in anger on social media Friday after the Supreme Court refused to reinstate the state’s new congressional map that Democrats openly designed to flip up to four House seats in the 2026 midterms.

The high court’s one-sentence order left in place a 4-3 ruling from the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down the redistricting amendment on procedural grounds, meaning the state will use its existing 2021 congressional districts for the upcoming elections.

Spanberger took to X to lash out at both the state and federal courts, claiming they had “nullified an election” and the votes of more than three million Virginians.

The governor wrote in full:

The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians.

These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s “entitled” to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls.

As Governor, I will make sure voters know when and how to cast their votes this year. Because our votes are how we choose the representation we deserve.

Spanberger later shared a link on her personal campaign account directing supporters to donate to Democratic congressional candidates via ActBlue.

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Lawsuits Challenging Spanberger’s Virginia ‘Assault Firearms’ Gun Grab Pour In

Multiple Second Amendment rights advocates are suing Virginia’s police superintendent after Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., signed into law legislation banning many semi-automatic firearms and standard-capacity magazines.

The new law, effective July 1, “criminalizes the purchase, sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of a wide range of commonly owned semiautomatic handguns, shotguns, and rifles — including the AR-15, the most popular rifle in America,” said the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the plaintiffs suing Virginia. It also “prohibits the purchase, barter, transfer, and importation” of any magazine that holds more than 15 rounds, the organization noted.

Democrat state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, a politician from Bangladesh who is a driving force behind efforts to strip constitutional rights away from Americans, authored the bill.

The NRA, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and two NRA members filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the law; the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a lawsuit in a Virginia county court; multiple firearm retailers, gun ranges, and other organizations filed a lawsuit in state court, and U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon promised the Department of Justice would file one as well.

All lawsuits name Jeffrey S. Katz, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, as the defendant. The NRA lawsuit also names Goochland County Commonwealth Attorney John L. Lumpkins Jr. and Sheriff Steven Creasey, along with Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth and Sheriff Glendell Hill. Justin McDonald and Anthony Groeneveld, plaintiffs in the NRA suit, are residents of Goochland and Prince William, respectively, and are also members of the NRA, FPC, and SAF.

The NRA lawsuit appeals to U.S. Supreme Court precedent in both New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen and District of Columbia v. Heller (as applied to the states through McDonald v. City of Chicago) to argue the gun and magazine bans are unconstitutional. “By prohibiting Plaintiffs from acquiring common semiautomatic firearms and ammunition magazines,” the suit argues, “Virginia has prevented them from ‘keeping and bearing Arms’ within the meaning of the Amendment’s text. As a result, ‘[t]o justify its regulation, the government … must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.’”

Because ownership of the kinds of firearms and magazines banned by the new bill is widespread in Virginia, the new legislation necessarily cannot meet the standards set by historical practice, which, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, requires that the banned weapon be “both dangerous and unusual,” according to the lawsuit (emphasis original).

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Worst Prosecutor In America Struggles To Explain Why Democrats Keep Protecting Illegal Alien Murderers

After being presented with piles of evidence showing his office systematically allows violent criminal illegal aliens back on the street, Steve Descano, the George Soros-backed Fairfax County, Virginia, Commonwealth’s Attorney, continued to claim his office does everything in its power to prosecute them properly.

Descano testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement in a hearing titled “Fairfax County, Virginia: The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary Policies,” alongside Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid, former Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Cheryl Minter, the mother of a woman murdered by an illegal, and others.

In a heated exchange with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, regarding Descano’s preferential treatment of illegals in sentencing — requiring that their immigration status be considered in a way that will protect them from deportation — Descano claimed the promise to shield illegals was merely an empty campaign promise.

“I didn’t realize people were so obtuse that they could not realize what the difference between a campaign statement and an actual office policy is,” Descano said. “We’re not protecting undocumented individuals, we prosecute people who commit crimes in Fairfax County regardless of their status.”

However, a since-deleted portion of Descano’s website, which had been up for six years until last week when he was asked to testify, stated, “Our office will take immigration consequences into account when making prosecuting decisions. … If two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County.”

Descano refused to answer how many times his office took immigration status into account when reducing the sentences of violent illegal aliens, but maintained that there was a difference between what his campaign website said and his office’s official policy.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, confronted Descano with his office’s official policy, which reads nearly the exact same way.

The guidelines for plea bargaining, charging decisions, and sentencing, signed by Descano himself, state, “Although not outcome determinative, prosecutors shall consider: (i) the collateral immigration consequences of the specific crime(s) the defendant is charged with, and (ii) the detrimental impact that deportation/removal has on the families and communities those removed or deported leave behind.”

That policy is in line with the county’s “public trust and confidentiality policy,” which allows illegal aliens in Fairfax to “access county benefits and services without fear that the information they share will be disclosed to federal immigration officials.”

Shielding illegal aliens is necessary, Descano argued, because 30 percent of residents of Fairfax County are immigrants, and their testimony is needed to obtain convictions. David Bier of the Cato Institute said that 20 percent of Fairfax’s residents are “here illegally or lives in a household of someone here illegally.”

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Supreme Court Rejects Virginia Democrats’ Request to Intervene in Gerrymander Scheme

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rejected a request from Virginia Democrats for the nation’s high court to intervene after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled to strike down a gerrymander scheme that would have redrawn the state’s congressional map in favor of Democrats.

In an order on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection had “no dissents,” NBC News reported.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) responded to the rejection by claiming that the Court had “joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election.”

“The Supreme Court of the United States has now joined the Supreme Court of Virginia in choosing to nullify an election and the votes of more than three million Virginians,” Spanberger wrote in a post on X. “These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s ‘entitled’ to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls.”

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