Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase (R), one of seven GOP gubernatorial candidates, bashed the verdict in ex-cop Derek Chauvin’s murder trial that found him guilty on all counts for the death of George Floyd earlier this week.
“Friends, today’s verdict makes me sick,” she said during a campaign stop after the decision was announced on Tuesday, per a video tweeted by liberal PAC American Bridge. “I am so concerned about our law enforcement right now quitting. And you should be, too.”
Chase also said the verdict “grieves my heart,” according to VPM.
The candidate doubled down on her complaints later that day in a formal statement reported by Virginia Scope, saying she was “concerned” that the verdict was “politically motivated more to prevent civil unrest than to serve justice.”
Democratic Party of Virginia spokesperson slammed Chase’s “racist and dangerous” remarks in a statement to the Washington Post.
“It’s incumbent upon the other candidates to condemn these comments in no uncertain terms,” he said. “Anything less is a de facto agreement, and proves there is no daylight between them.”
Chauvin, who killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes during an arrest last summer, was found guilty on all three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Tuesday. Racial and criminal justice advocates cheered the decision amid nationwide protests against anti-Black police brutality.
H/t the Washington Post.
