Black Lives Matter supporters filled the Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting chamber today in Woodbridge.
Through statements laced with profanity, they attacked the sitting members of the elected body, which is controlled by a Democratic majority, for recently issuing a proclamation that “all lives matter,” and demanded the county end its partnership with Federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Most fiercely attacked were two women on the Board, Supervisors Jeanine Lawson and Yesli Vega, of the Brentsville and Coles districts, respectively, both Republicans. A woman representing CASA in Action, an immigrants rights activist group in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, told Vega — the first elected Hispanic member of the county board — that she “is the devil,” and to “zip your mouth,” following Vega’s support for the federal 287(g) program used to identify those charged with a crime and who may be in the U.S. illegally.
Vega and Lawson never responded to the commenters, as it a rarity for supervisors to do so during public comment periods. And the insults to the board members kept coming, as a crowd of Black Lives Matter supporters stood outside chambers and cheered as they were hurled.
“You guys are worthless,” said one commenter. “You guys F—ing suck,” yelled another.
That prompted the Board of County Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler to react.
“You do nothing for your cause by losing decorum,” said Wheeler.
A short time later, another speaker confronted Wheeler from the microphone.
“The minute you police the language that can be used in here is the minute you lose the voices who are rightfully angry. All I have to say is F— decorum,” said the speaker.
At no time did Wheeler threaten to use police to clear the room. It was a reversal from a Board of County Supervisors meeting on May 19 when she threatened to have police remove a crowd of conservative protestors who stood outside the Board of Supervisors chamber and heckled the supervisors during the session, but used no profanity.
“My group of like-minded invidious were threatened to be thrown out of there. I would like to remind you, Madam Chair, you set the example,” said Coles District resident Bret “Alan” Gloss, who last week filed a lawsuit against the Board of County Supervisors, alleging Freedom of Information Act violations, over an unpublicized May 31 meeting where five of the eight members Board of County Supervisors attended where the police response to a riot was discussed.
Multiple Black Lives Matter supporters called to defund the Prince William County Police Department — a department that in 2018 noted only 7% of residents were dissatisfied with police. The department scored 68% in a citizen satisfaction survey where residents were “very satisfied, 25% of residents were “satisfied.”
“I want to remind you how much you are white supremacists. Abolish the fricken the police. Abolish America. Its existence its a threat to the world. It’s a threat to immigrants at the border. The roots of police are from slave patrols, where white people paid people to catch their runaway slaves,” said one female speaker from Fairfax County. “F— your white supremacists’ asses.”
After she reached her three-minute speaking time limit, Wheeler asked her to surrender the microphone.
“F— you, girl. F— y’all,” she replied.
At the close of public comment time, Lawson asked County Executive Christopher Martino if his staff would be able to edit out the foul language from what will be ab archived video of the meeting, which will be accessible on the county’s website.
“I don’t’ think people, as their listening at home, should have to listen to that,” said Lawson.
The Prince William County Jail Board is set to hold a virtual meeting on Wednesday, June 17 — it’s first since the coronavirus pandemic. On the agenda will be the 287(g) program that’s been in place in the county since 2007, and whether or not to keep it.
As part of the program, local jail officers receive federal training to identify people who are suspected of being in the U.S. illegally, after they’ve been charged with a crime. If a suspect is identified — as was the case last month when Walner Alberto Pichinte Echeverria, 35, of 6502 Monarch Road in Frederick, Md. was charged with felony hit and run in the death of 62-year-0ld Alberto Anthony Marino, of Bristow.
On same day Potomac Local News reported that news, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors appointed three new members to the jail board, including Virginia Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, who, in 2017, told Prince William Times she vowed to abolish the 287(g) program.
Prince Willaim and Culpeper counties are the only two jurisdictions in Virginia that have a 287(g) agreement in place.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the Prince William County Police Department scored a 55% approval rating in a 2018 citizen satisfaction survey. The department scored a 93% combined approval rating in a citizen satisfaction survey in 2018.
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