Anti-Eviction Protest Ends With Arrests, Powhatan County Woman Fakes Story About Assault By Black Couple, Pigs On The Highway; More

From the Virginia Mercury:

By Graham Moomaw
July 2, 2020

NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.

• An anti-eviction protest at Richmond’s John Marshall Courthouse ended with pepper spray, arrests and smashed windows. — Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Richmond police, who have been criticized for their liberal use of tear gas, pepper spray and other tactics, aren’t saying whether they’ll shift course. — WVTF

• A Naval officer is pushing to change the name of the USS John C. Stennis, an aircraft carrier named after a segregationist senator. — Virginian-Pilot

• A Powhatan County woman has been charged with filing a false police report after officials said she faked a story about being assaulted by a Black couple. The claim went viral in an “incendiary Facebook post.” — Powhatan Today

• Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe reported his PAC raised $1.7 million, a show of force as he considers a comeback bid in 2021. — Washington Post

• Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, has filed a defamation suit against an attorney/gun shop owner who she says falsely accused her of inciting a riot at her city’s Confederate monument. — Virginian-Pilot

• Race-based hair discrimination is now officially banned in Virginia. “It’s a leap forward not just in the south, but for change across the nation,” said a Richmond-area natural hairstylist. — The Guardian

• A Norfolk wedding photographer who says he doesn’t shoot same-sex weddings has sued over Virginia’s new LGBTQ anti-discrimination law, saying it could force him to “promote views against his faith.” — Virginian-Pilot

• Thomas Jefferson wasn’t alone when he went to Philadelphia in 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence. “He brought with him an enslaved teen named Robert Hemings, whose life and contributions to history — like so many of his status — are stories of what we don’t know.” — Associated Press

• Highway traffic was backed up for miles near Fredericksburg on account of “pigs running around the interstate.” — Free Lance-Star

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