Tipsheet

Virginia Democrats Continue to Be Rocked by Concerns to Defund the Police

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  August 27, 2021 9:00 PM

There's something going on in Virginia with concerns to defund the police. Earlier this week, local news outlet WCYB reported that "Dickenson County sheriff leaves Democratic Party, cites 'far left wing extremists.'" 

The sheriff in question, Jeremy Fleming is switching his party affiliation to Independent. "This is a decision that I have not made lightly," a statement from his included in the coverage mentions. "My decision is guided by my core principles and conscious. I can no longer be a part of a political party that is being overtaken by far left wing extremists that are controlling important policies affecting law enforcement departments and officers across this country."

There are other references to concerns for police officers. "In my chosen profession as a law enforcement official, I can no longer run for office under the Democrat banner based on laws and policies being enacted in the country and the Commonwealth of Virginia by left wing Democrats that have a detrimental, and in my opinion, a dangerous effect on public safety for our citizens here in Dickenson County Virginia," he went on to say.

It's also noted "Sheriff Fleming is the fourth Southwest Virginia sheriff to leave the party since 2020."

The sheriff was in the news earlier this month as well, as a then Democrat who endorsed the Republican candidate for attorney general, Jason Miyares. Adding even more drama to the race is how Fleming was one of numerous sheriffs whose endorsement the Democratic incumbent, Attorney General Mark Herring, mistakenly claimed to have. 

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Defund the police has affected the gubernatorial race as well. Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee, has touted endorsements from groups which vocally support the dangerous, leftist talking point. 

This includes the New Virginia Majority, which wants to abolish ICE, defund the police, and claims "Incarceration is a human rights violation." 

His endorsement from NARAL is a double whammy, as the national organization and Virginia chapter not only support defending the police, but hold extremist pro-abortion policies. 

McAuliffe previously served as governor of Virginia in from 2014 to 2018. He is running again in 2021 as the state constitution prohibits governors from serving back-to-back terms. 

His ties to defund the police moments go back years, though. Few people are more memorably in favor of such an extremist movement than members of the squad, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). In 2019, McAuliffe voluntarily shared that he found her "terrific." 

"We’ve got these new members of Congress, we’ve got AOC, I think she’s terrific. I mean, I may not agree with everything she says -- I think it’s great. I just think it’s terrific that we have all these people with new, different ideas. That’s a good thing," he said. 

It hardly needs repeating that the congresswoman has called for defunding the police, as well as ICE. "We’re here to say that an agency like ICE, which repeatedly and systematically violates human rights, does not deserve a dime," she said about the latter in February 2019, weeks before McAuliffe's comments. 

Such is not a surprising position, considering she based her 2018 congressional campaign around abolishing ICE. She went a step further in July 2019 by calling for the elimination the Department of Homeland Security. 

McAuliffe has also snubbed police officers both during this 2021 campaign cycle, as well as when he was governor. McAuliffe did not meet with the Virginia Police Benevolent Association, which went on to endorse his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin. In September 2017, the Associated Press reported that "Sheriffs group: McAuliffe canceled meeting over endorsements," with the majority of sheriffs having had endorsed the Republican gubernatorial candidate for 2017, Ed Gillespie. 

Meanwhile, Youngkin has earned the endorsement of 50 sheriffs across the commonwealth.