Virginia police chief on leave after confederate statue charges

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RICHMOND, VA - FEBRUARY 07: L. Louise Lucas (C), Democrats and longtime member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, listens to the proceedings on the Senate floor at the Virginia State Capitol, February 7, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. Virginia st

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PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The police chief in Portsmouth, Virginia, is on paid leave nearly three weeks after her department charged a state senator and several others from the city’s Black community with conspiring to a damage a Confederate monument.

City spokeswoman Dana Woodson confirmed in an email on Friday that Chief Angela Greene is on leave and that an assistant police chief will assume her duties in the meantime.

The city declined to comment further. No one answered the telephone Friday at a number listed for Greene.

Allies of State Sen. Louise Lucas in Richmond have called the felony charges against her legally weak and political. The case is based on words that police say Lucas spoke in the hours before protesters ripped heads off Confederate statues and pulled one down, critically injuring a demonstrator.

Some legal observers say that Lucas’ alleged statements are protected speech. The charges were filed without the cooperation of the local prosecutor’s office. And they were issued the day before state lawmakers met to work on police reforms, including ones that Lucas — a high ranking-Democrat — has championed.

Lucas and several others face counts of conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000. Other people who were charged included a school board member as well as members of the local NAACP chapter and public defender’s office.

Lucas is being charged at a time when many memorials to the Confederacy are being taken down, whether by demonstrators opposed to racial injustice or by authorities seeking to dismantle them through official channels. The monuments have long been viewed by many as symbols of white supremacy. But they’ve drawn increasing attention following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

Greene became Portsmouth’s police chief in 2019 after chief Tonya Chapman resigned.