As our nation’s police officers face budget cuts, layoffs, and violent attacks by mobs of leftists, Virginia has decided to make it worse.
Virginia state Senate Democrats have passed a bill that will allow assaulting a law enforcement officer to be treated as a misdemeanor, punishable by less than one year in jail.
Prior to this bill, any assault of an officer carried a minimum six month jail sentence. According to the Fort Hunt Herald, this same penalty applies to anyone who assaults a person they know, or a person who is a judge, magistrate, prison guard, firefighter, first responder, or any other person in the criminal justice field.
A summary of the bill states that it will “eliminate the mandatory minimum term of confinement for an assault and battery committed against a judge; magistrate; law-enforcement officer; correctional officer; person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates; firefighter; or volunteer firefighter or any emergency medical services personnel and provides that such crime can no longer be committed as a simple assault and must result in a bodily injury.”
The bill was passed on Thursday by the Virginia Senate, by a vote of 21-15.
Democrats said that the bill would “defelonize assault[s] on law enforcement officer (return to misdemeanor offense)” and eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence, which was imposed in 1997.
In Virginia in 2019, 1,939 officers were assaulted in the line of duty. Approximately 500 if those assaults resulted in the officer sustaining minor injuries, 40 of the incidents resulted in major injuries.
After being passed in the state Senate, the bill will now be sent to the Virginia House of Delegates, which is Democrat controlled. It is expected that Democrat Governor Ralph Northam will sign the bill into law.
Backlash
Twitter was quickly inundated with posts denouncing Virginia Democrats’ decision.
Do we need any further proof that Democrats are actively working with the anarchists to destabilize our nation? https://t.co/iMJz7eRmAW
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 27, 2020
The National Fraternal Order of Police commented on the decision:
This is sound policy right here folks. Shootings / assaults against👮♀️are skyrocketing. We’re doing everything possible to reduce conflicts and the VA legislature makes this boneheaded decision to lower penalties associated with assaulting us. #GetACluehttps://t.co/RqhPeBzrem
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) August 28, 2020
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, also tweeted about the bill:
This is unhinged.
The Democrat Virginia Senate has passed a bill that would dramatically reduce penalties for assaulting a police officer.
Liberal politicians are endangering police officers and fueling the riots in our streets.https://t.co/3bFKHVNk9G
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 27, 2020