RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — In response to Virginia Senate Democrats’ plan to censure her, state Sen. Amanda Chase is reportedly moving to censure state Sen. Louise Lucas, for her involvement in the destructive Confederate monument demonstration in Portsmouth in June.
Chase (R-Chesterfield) — who is also running for governor — tweeted Friday that, “Monday I will be filing resolutions to call for censure of every last legislator who has arrested or participated in a rally that ended in destruction.”
Chase’s statements came after state Senate Democrats filed a resolution Wednesday to discipline Chase for attending a Trump rally ahead of an attack on the U.S. Capitol building by pro-Trump supporters that left five people dead. The resolution says the behavior was a “failure to uphold her oath of office” and “unbecoming of a Senator.”
Under the rules of the Virginia Senate, a “censure” places a senator last in seniority within the senate.
Brandon Jarvis — a reporter for the independent Virginia Scope newspaper — confirmed with Chase that she intends to move to censure Lucas.
No formal resolution had been filed as of Friday night.
Lucas (D-Portsmouth) — who is also president pro tempore of the state Senate — was seen on cell phone and police body camera video telling police officers that protesters were “going to put some paint” on the controversial Confederate monument in Portsmouth in June 2020, and “you can’t stop them.”
While vandalism of the monument began while Lucas was on the scene, hours after her departure a crowd began to destroy parts of the monument and eventually a man was seriously injured when a statue of a soldier was pulled down on top of him.
“Senator Lucas … she was the one who incited an actual riot where someone was actually injured seriously … And what did Terry McAuliffe, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, former governor say? He said that’s ‘good trouble.’ When people get injured that’s ‘good trouble?’ I am astounded at the level of hypocrisy,” Chase said in a video posted this week.
Lucas was charged with felonies related to the incident but those charges were later dropped.
Upon hearing Chase’s plans, Lucas tweeted that Chase “is reacting to the filing of [Senate Resolution] 91 to censure her for helping to incite the insurrection to overthrow the Government. We can no longer allow her to spread conspiracy theories without consequences.”
Lucas co-sponsored the resolution that seeks to censure chase for instigating “insurrection against the United States.”
Chase went to the nation’s capital on Jan. 6 to speak and hear President Donald Trump’s speech at the “Stop the Steal” rally aimed at urging action be taken to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Ultimately, a violent mob made up of the president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol following the rally.
Chase has maintained she left before the violent siege and attending the rally itself was not a crime. In a Facebook live on the afternoon of the rally, she said she denounces all violence but reiterated claims blaming Antifa – an ambiguous political protest movement that is regularly targeted by the President and conservatives – for being partly responsible for the violence on Wednesday.
Following the incident, Chase’s Facebook account was suspended.
The censure resolution states “Senator Amanda F. Chase continued to voice support for those who participated, calling them “[p]atriots who love their country” and propagating unfounded claims regarding the nature of the events, the identities of those who took part, and the validity of the presidential election.”
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, of which Lucas is a member, released a statement defending Lucas and supporting the censure of Chase.
“Chase … who often expresses white nationalist talking points, communicated senseless plans to file a resolution to censure Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas —who is the first Black person and woman to serve in this role. This baseless talking point by Senator Amanda Chase is clearly a distraction from Senator Chase’s participation in fomenting the violent insurrection against the United States on January 6, 2021.”
Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe who is running the job again as a democrat tweeted his support for Lucas saying “I stand with my friend @SenLouiseLucas and the VA Black Caucus. Amanda Chase cheered on violent domestic terrorists as “patriots.” How dare she smear a TRUE patriot like Louise Lucas.”
