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mahatmakanejeeves

(60,935 posts)
Fri Feb 25, 2022, 09:15 AM Feb 2022

"Let's Go, Brandon" sign on the Virginia Capitol grounds

And by "Let's Go, Brandon" I mean something else. The proposed amendment does sound like a backdoor way of getting around the First Amendment. I think that, had it passed, the Virginia ACLU would have challenged it.

I had the opportunity to break a tie vote today on a Senate budget amendment, voting no on language that would have stifled free speech. #LG42 #VAgeneralassembly #everforward



Virginia Politics

More services or more tax cuts: Virginia House and Senate pass vastly different budgets

By Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella
Yesterday at 8:00 p.m. EST

RICHMOND — Two very different state budget plans emerged from Virginia’s divided Capitol on Thursday, with the Republican-led House passing a bill with hefty tax cuts and the Democratic-controlled Senate backing one with more generous government spending.

{snip}

Sen. Amanda F. Chase (R-Chesterfield), a self-described “Trump in heels” who has promoted former president Donald Trump’s false election claims, proposed floor amendments intended to boost “election integrity.” Most were shot down with voice votes, but Democrats insisted on a recorded vote for one of her amendments, which sought to devote $70 million to a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 election. ... “This amendment is drawn from the darkest corners of the Internet,” Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) said ahead of the vote. “It is a conspiracy-theorist bonanza that I would hope we would defeat.”

Nine Republicans, representing nearly half the Senate’s Republican caucus, ducked off the floor and missed the vote. Chase got support from three fellow Republicans, two of them in party nomination battles for Congress, Bryce Reeves (Spotsylvania) and Jen A. Kiggans (Virginia Beach). The remaining six Republicans voted against, as did every Democrat.

{snip}

Reeves raised free-speech concerns about a budget amendment proposed by the full Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee that would have drastically tightened requirements for political demonstrations near the state Capitol. ... Existing budget language says a permit is required for any group of 10 or more people to march, picket or make a speech on property controlled by the Department of General Services, including streets bordering the Capitol. The amendment would have lowered the threshold to “one or more individuals,” so a lone person would need a permit to stand in front of the Capitol with a sign. ... “Somebody’s trying to stifle our First Amendment rights,” Reeves said.

It fell to Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) to explain the amendment on the floor because it pertained to a subcommittee he chairs. He told the body he was unfamiliar with it. After consulting with a Finance Committee staffer, he said it stemmed from a protester who earlier this year stood in front of the Capitol with an enormous anti-Biden sign with an expletive. ... “Our Capitol Police don’t have a way to get him off the grounds right now,” Petersen said, adding that the expletive could be offensive to families visiting the Capitol. ... The amendment died after Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R) voted against it to break a 20 to 20 tie, with most Republicans opposed and most Democrats in favor.

{snip}

Karina Elwood contributed to this report.

By Gregory S. Schneider
Greg Schneider covers Virginia from the Richmond bureau. He was The Washington Post's business editor for more than seven years, and before that served stints as deputy business editor, national security editor and technology editor. He has also covered aviation security, the auto industry and the defense industry for The Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/SchneiderG

By Laura Vozzella
Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Twitter https://twitter.com/LVozzella
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"Let's Go, Brandon" sign on the Virginia Capitol grounds (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Feb 2022 OP
Sounds like the Repubs actually ran away from being associated with Chase underpants Feb 2022 #1
Yes. Here are some tweets from Graham Moomaw's Twitter account about that vote. mahatmakanejeeves Feb 2022 #2
Wow. Headlining a DU post and top billing... Anon-C Feb 2022 #3
Here's what the amendment was about: mahatmakanejeeves Feb 2022 #4

underpants

(186,640 posts)
1. Sounds like the Repubs actually ran away from being associated with Chase
Fri Feb 25, 2022, 09:30 AM
Feb 2022

Sears is a nutcase in heels…which is the same as being Trump in heels

mahatmakanejeeves

(60,935 posts)
2. Yes. Here are some tweets from Graham Moomaw's Twitter account about that vote.
Fri Feb 25, 2022, 09:32 AM
Feb 2022
Only 6/19 of Virginia's Republican senators voted against spending $70M to audit Biden's 10-point win here.

Maybe the wildest vote board of the session.



Graham Moomaw Retweeted

Two of those #Va Senate Republicans -
@ReevesVa
and
@JenKiggans
- are running for Congress.

Presumably, they’re keen to ingratiate themselves to Trump voters who could decide GOP nominations.


mahatmakanejeeves

(60,935 posts)
4. Here's what the amendment was about:
Fri Feb 25, 2022, 10:14 AM
Feb 2022

Fri Nov 12, 2021: 2 men detained after vulgar banner shown during Va. Veterans Day ceremony

Home » Virginia News » 2 men detained after…

2 men detained after vulgar banner shown during Va. Veterans Day ceremony

Joshua Barlow | jbarlow@wtop.com

November 12, 2021, 1:59 AM

Described as a “disagreement” over free speech by Virginia Capitol Police, two men were detained Thursday after a banner containing vulgar language was displayed during a Veterans Day ceremony in Richmond. ... The run-in began shortly after 11 a.m. when Ronald Hedlund, 60, of Glen Allen, drove his pickup truck over a sidewalk into a tow-away zone on Second Street near the base of the Virginia War Memorial’s amphitheater. ... There, he displayed a “vulgar” banner with language directed at President Joe Biden in clear view of ceremony attendees, Virginia Capitol Police said in a statement.

Police approached Hedlund and asked him to move. After he refused, officers chose to stay with him until the ceremony had ended to avoid further distractions during the ceremony. ... At the same time, Carl Grunow, a 58-year-old veteran from Chesterfield, Va., saw the banner and left the amphitheater during the ceremony. According to police, Grunow climbed into the bed of Hedlund’s truck, removed his suit jacket, and attempted to cover the banner with it. ... Police say there was no physical contact between Grunow and Hedlund.

After multiple attempts to coax Grunow from the truck, officers removed him from the vehicle, issued a summons for disorderly conduct, and escorted him to his car. ... Hedlund was ticketed for parking in a tow-away zone and allowed to leave.

“We are very sensitive to a person’s right to freely speak their mind, but when they will not work with our attempts to de-escalate matters, we are left with little choice.” Col. Anthony S. Pike, the agency’s chief, said. ... Pike also said Capitol Police might consult with the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office on whether additional charges should be filed against Hedlund.

{snip}

NEWS | LOCAL NEWS

Virginia veteran charged after covering 'F*** Biden' sign at Veterans Day ceremony

By: Scott Wise
Posted at 3:14 PM, Nov 11, 2021 and last updated 4:17 PM, Nov 12, 2021

RICHMOND, Va. -- Two men were detained by Virginia Capitol Police outside Thursday's Veterans Day ceremony at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond.

A 60-year-old Glen Allen man parked his pickup truck in an area of 2nd Street, near the memorial, that was blocked off as a special parking zone, according to a Capitol Police spokesperson. ... A sign in the bed of his truck displayed the uncensored phrase "F*** Biden."

"[He] drove onto a sidewalk, around the barricades, and back onto 2nd into the prohibited area," a Capitol Police spokesperson wrote in an email. "After he parked on 2nd in a spot that made his truck highly visible to the Veterans Day ceremony crowd, Capitol Police officers approached him and asked him to move." ... The truck driver, according to police, refused to move and questioned the officers' authority.

"Because the ceremony was already underway and Capitol Police did not want to cause further distractions, officers decided to remain with [him] at his truck until the ceremony ended before taking additional actions," the spokesperson's email continued.

{snip}
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