Senator Bagby, #IrvoOtieno Funeral, DeShayla Harris Case on @RolandSMartin, Little Wins Big
➡️ SENATOR BAGBY. It’s all over but the swearing-in. Former teacher, Henrico School Board member and Delegate Lamont Bagby easily won a special election last night to fill the vacated State Senate seat of Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan. He will soon be officially sworn-in to the Virginia State Senate.
➡️ IRVO OTIENO FUNERAL TODAY at 11:30AM. The funeral of Irvo Otieno, who died in in police custody on March 6 at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, will be held today at the First Baptist Church in Chesterfield. Ben Crump and at Rev. Al Sharpton, will deliver remarks.
➡️ VOTING: YOUNGKIN RETURNS VIRGINIA TO 1902. Here we go again. Virginia’s 1870 Constitution, passed during Reconstruction, banned voting by all felons in the Commonwealth. Then, delegates to Virginia’s 1902 constitutional convention adopted expanded voting restrictions and added poll taxes and a literacy test. Denying felons voting rights was invented in Virginia in the name of white supremacy.
Racists back in 1902 were not being secretive about what the overall goal was: Stopping emerging Black voting power. Virginia’s 1902 constitution would “eliminate the darkey as a political factor,” said Carter Glass — who would later become a U.S. Senator. The goal was to ensure “complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government.”
About 12,000 people are released from jail in Virginia each year. State Senator Lionell Spruill, wrote Gov. Youngkin in early March to get clarification on rights restoration. The answer: Virginia will again evaluate whether to allow voting rights on a case-by-case basis. Translation: It’s 1902 again.
➡️ DWIGHT BROWN. Dwight Brown, the brother of Laquita Brown, who was murdered with 11 others at a government building in Virginia Beach on May 31, 2019, was on Capitol Hill yesterday meeting with members of the Virginia congressional delegation. Brown was in meetings with Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Reps. Bobby Scott, Jen Kiggans, Gerry Connolly, Abigail Spanberger and others. Brown also had a chance conversation with Virginia Beach State Senator Bill DeSteph as they crossed paths to Rep. Rob Wittman’s office.
Brown and other family members of victims of the Virginia Beach massacre spoke with federal lawmakers about the details of the what family survivors face after a mass shooting. The number of mass shootings is increasing in America. There have been 130 mass shootings since the start of 2023 and 13 occurred at schools.
➡️ DESHAYLA HARRIS SEGMENT ON #ROLANDMARTINUNFILTERED. Last night Roland Martin interviewed attorney Justin Fairfax on the case of DeShayla Harris. Harris was murdered on the Virginia Beach oceanfront on March 26, 2021. No one has been arrested in connection to Harris’ death. Her family has filed a $50 million lawsuit for wrongful death. Her mother, Elisheba Harris, sued the city of Virginia Beach last Friday — two days before the statute of limitations expired on March 26, 2023. Harris has been trying to get answer from Virginia Beach on the ballistics on the bullet that killed her daughter on March 26, 2021. The Deshayla Harris segment with Harris family attorney Justin Fairfax begins at 1 hour and 4 minutes on the video below:
MAKYA LITTLE WINS FAIRFAX STRAW POLL. Former FBI and CIA agent Makya Little won the Fairfax Democratic Committee “Pick Your Pony” straw poll for the very competitive HD19.
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