After FBI testimony on white supremacist violence, AG Herring calls for overdue action by General Assembly

RICHMOND (July 23, 2019)—Attorney General Mark R. Herring reemphasized the need for the General Assembly to pass legislation to address hate crimes and white supremacist violence after FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee today that “a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we’ve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call ‘white supremacist violence.’”

“Director Wray’s testimony is yet another reminder that the threat of white supremacist violence is real, it is urgent, and that we must do more to keep Virginians safe,” said Attorney General Herring. “Unfortunately Republicans in the General Assembly have continually defeated my bills to combat hate crimes and white supremacist violence, often without even so much as a hearing. Too many Virginians live with the lingering fear that they could be targeted for violence or mistreatment because of who they are, what they look like, how they worship, or where they come from. We must do more to ensure that everyone in our Virginia family is safe and protected, and that we all feel safe.”

For years Attorney General Herring says he has been raising awareness of the threat of white supremacist violence and proposing new laws to keep Virginians safe. Herring’s proposed bills, he says, would update the Commonwealth’s hate crime and domestic terrorism laws, protect Virginians from violence and intimidation by hate groups and white supremacists, and make it harder for hate groups and white supremacists to threaten, intimidate, or hurt Virginians with firearms.

In 2019 the General Assembly defeated all of his proposed bills, including several that were simply never taken up by Republican-controlled committees.

In addition to his legislative proposals, Attorney General Herring launched www.NoHateVA.com to give vulnerable communities more information and resources to protect themselves from hate crimes and white supremacist violence.