More poetic justice in Virginia

Readers with long(ish) memories may recall our post headed "Poetic justice in Portsmouth, Virginia" (WWW 13/6/20) in which we told you the sad (NOT!) story of how one of the anti-Black racism (etc etc) protesters tearing down a statue of Robert E. Lee in Portsmouth VA was injured when said statue fell on him. The story ended with Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's pledge to get "justice for all the 'protesters'."

Believe it or not, fourteen (14!) of the "protesters" and their colleagues/associates/supporters -- including a Democratic state senator, three members of the NAACP, and three "public defenders" -- have actually been charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1000.

Charges of conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1000 have been laid against:
State Senator Louise Lucas
James Boyd, Portsmouth NAACP representative
Louie Gibbs, Portsmouth NAACP representative
LaKesha Hicks, Portsmouth NAACP representative
LaKeesha S. "Klu" Atkinson, Portsmouth School Board member
Kimberly Wimbish
Dana Worthington
Amira Bethea

Those charged only with injury to a monument in excess of $1000 are:
Brenda Spry, public defender
Alexandra Stephens, public defender
Meredith Cramer, public defender
Brandon Woodard
Hanah Renae Rivera
Raymond J Brothers

No charges have been laid against Chris Green, the father of two on whom General Lee's statue got its revenge. According to his GoFundMe page, although he cannot walk or talk, Mr Green (who is actually Black) can drink liquids and "is able to feed himself semi-solid foods and is able to drink from a cup independently. Chris is showing emotion by smiling and laughing when appropriate."

As for Senator Lucas, WAVY-TV reported shortly after the "peaceful protest" that a campaign had been launched to effect her recall. Since then, the Virginian-Pilot reports, she has filed a defamation suit against Tim Anderson, who started the campaign, who (she said) falsely accused her of inciting a riot, a felony, and of telling police to stand down while people defaced the monument. How the criminal charges will affect the civil proceeding remains to be seen.