Swastikas painted on Waynesboro mural and more Va. headlines

The State Capitol. (Ned Oliver/ Virginia Mercury)

• In a jailhouse interview, one of the men Richmond police accused of plotting a Fourth of July mass shooting called the still-unproven claim a lie and said he’s “innocent of everything the police accuse me of.”—WTVR

• A trial over the fate of Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue is moving forward, with attorneys assuring the court the monument has not been melted down yet. A judge rejected a claim the city violated open-meeting rules by voting to give the statue to a local Black history center to have the bronze melted and repurposed for a different public art project.—Daily Progress

• The head of the Virginia State Police outlined exactly how the agency failed to vet the “catfishing” former trooper who killed three people in California in a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times.—Los Angeles Times

• State Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Loudoun, is working on a bill to strengthen Virginia’s firearm storage laws after a 6-year-old shot a Newport News elementary school teacher in a classroom.—Virginian-Pilot

• Four swastikas were painted on a Waynesboro YMCA mural showing a Black father swimming with his daughter.—News Virginian

by Staff Report, Virginia Mercury

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