Portsmouth, Virginia Police Chief Angela Greene has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation just weeks after announcing felony charges against Democrat State Senator Louise Lucas, local NAACP President James Boyd, and 12 others in connection with a June 10th attack on the city’s 144-year-old Confederate monument.
While the department has yet to release details surrounding the investigation, City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton claims that Greene should have never been investigating the case due to an undisclosed “conflict of interest,” presumably that the case involves some of the city’s elected officials and representatives. In response, Greene said that her department had exhausted efforts to have an external group conduct the investigation and that no conflicts of interest had been revealed.
Greene has been under intense scrutiny since announcing the charges last month, with local clergy members, operating under the umbrella of the “Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Steering Committee” holding an August 19th press conference demanding Greene’s immediate firing or forced resignation. The group was joined by Portsmouth Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas Burke – the daughter of Senator Lucas – who demanded to know “who is running the God damn city.”
As previously reported by National File, Senator Lucas played a pivotal role in the attack on the monument and was caught on camera ordering law enforcement personnel to stand down and allow the attack to happen – all while shielding her face from view behind Antifa-style masking.
Democrat Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas was caught on camera ordering Portsmouth City police officers to stand down and allow Black Lives Matter demonstrators to deface and partially destroy a Confederate monument standing in the city, an effort that directly led to a portion of the statue toppling onto a man’s head, leaving him in critical condition.
Shielding her face from view in Antifa style garb, Senator Lucas, who was on the scene, instructed the crowd forming around her to “call the press” before insisting that because the statue stands on city property, police officers – who are employed by the city in part to protect city property – are not permitted to intervene.
“This is city property! I’m Louise Lucas! They cannot arrest them because the city owns this property, they been paying for that! Come July 1 they can take it down anyway. These police officers cannot arrest them for standing on city property, so I’m gonna stand right here and see what’s gonna happen.”
“Go ahead wreck it!” Senator Lucas then instructed the crowd.
In addition to Lucas’s caught on camera actions, an investigation conducted by the Portsmouth Police Department found that Lucas had conspired with local NAACP leadership in an effort to orchestrate the monument attack.
A “comprehensive investigation” determined that “several individuals conspired and organized to destroy the monument, as well as summonsed hundreds of people to join in the felonious acts which not only resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the monument but also permanent injury to and individual,” Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene told reporters as she announced the charges.
Senator Lucas, who was on scene and used what she claimed were the powers of her elected office to order police officers to stand down and allow a Black Lives Matter mob to destroy the monument has been charged with 2 felonies – Conspiracy to Commit a Felony and Felony Injury to a Monument in Excess of $1,000. In addition to Lucas, 7 other individuals are facing identical charges, including Portsmouth NAACP President James Boyd, NAACP members Louie Gibbs and Lakesha Hicks, and School Board member LaKeesha Atkinson.
Authorities also announced that a total of 6 individuals have been charged with a single felony – Injury to a Monument in Excess of $1,000. Among them are 3 public defenders, Brenda Spry, Alexandra Stephens, and Meredith Cramer.
Supporters of Greene held a rally outside Portsmouth City Hall Saturday, with a group of over 200 people coming out to show their support for the chief, wearing the color green in her honor.
“She didn’t do anything wrong, they suspended her because she charged people that are in power,” said attorney and gun store owner Chris Anderson, who organized the showing of support. “They’re fabricating things against her and it’s wrong. The chief of police is experienced and if that means it’s Lydia Patton that needs to be fired, so be it. The City Council, which meets here on Tuesday, needs to get our city manager under control and reinstate the chief of police for doing her job.”
