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AG-turned-senator lambasts Democrats’ silence on Jay Jones as sheriffs call for ouster: ‘We will not follow’

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AG-turned-senator lambasts Democrats’ silence on Jay Jones as sheriffs call for ouster: ‘We will not follow’

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Several Virginia law enforcement leaders are calling for attorney general candidate Jay Jones to drop out of the race after texts surfaced depicting him envisioning the murder of a former GOP leader, as a former top lawman turned senator told Fox News Digital it is unthinkable that many Democrats remain silent on the matter.

The Virginia Law Enforcement Sheriffs’ Association, representing the 86 sheriffs in the Old Dominion’s counties and independent cities, wrote a letter to Jones’ campaign headquarters in Williamsburg, Virginia, Wednesday demanding he bow out of the race. 

“It’s really sickening,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital.

“Calling for the assassination of a rival, calling for the death of his children: I think hopefully all of us can agree that that’s beyond the bounds of what’s reasonable here, and he ought to step down,” said Schmitt, who previously served as the Show Me State’s attorney general. 

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‘STAGGERING’ SILENCE: DEMOCRATS KNOCKED FOR KEEPING MUM ABOUT CANDIDATE WHO FANTASIZED ABOUT MURDER

Schmitt added that it is unfortunate but telling that many Democrats have not said anything about it.

That “is pretty sad,” he said.

Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones was convicted of reckless driving in 2022. (Craig Hudson For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

While Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., did defend Jones’ candidacy to Fox News Digital, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., ignored questions, along with Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Chris Coons, D-Del., to other reporters as seen in a recent video.

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Schmitt’s tenure in Jefferson City, Missouri, was particularly litigious against the Biden administration, which he sued several times.

The most notable of the cases was one alleging collusion between the feds and social media companies to censor content they disagreed with. Another suit sought to challenge bans on new oil and gas leases.

Back in Virginia, several sheriffs who lead the commonwealth’s association wrote to Jones demanding he leave the race. 

Grayson County, Virginia, Sheriff Richard Vaughn, the sheriffs’ association president who patrols a rural county centered on Independence and Mouth of Wilson, led off the letter, which said Jones’ statements are “disgusting” and “unacceptable” for someone seeking to be Virginia’s top law enforcement officer.

“Our association has seen the text messages in which you called for violence against a family to include his young children,” the letter read. “Furthermore, it is alleged that you stated that if more police were killed it would reduce shootings of civilians.” 

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The letter, further signed by association officials representing Virginia’s Campbell County — surrounding Lynchburg, Mecklenburg County — which includes South Hill, and Wise County on the Kentucky line, said calls for violence are unbecoming of a law enforcement officer.

“We will not follow an individual who has made such vile statements against citizens and the men and women in uniform who work hard every day risking their lives to combat the violence you advocate against them,” they wrote.

“Sir, you need to hold yourself accountable and immediately withdraw from the Attorney General race.”

JAY JONES SAID IF MORE POLICE WERE KILLED IT WOULD REDUCE SHOOTINGS OF CIVILIANS, ACCORDING TO VIRGINIA LAWMAKER

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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is the GOP candidate for re-election, followed the letter with more reactions he received from other law enforcement around the commonwealth.

Smyth County, Virginia, Sheriff Chip Schuler joined the district prosecutor in the county seat of Marion to rip Jones.

“The office of attorney general is not a political prize — it is the commonwealth’s highest legal authority,” Schuler and Commonwealth’s Attorney Bucky Blevins said in a statement to Miyares’ campaign.

“The Attorney General must embody discipline, restraint, and integrity,” they added. “Every deputy sheriff and every prosecutor in this Commonwealth is held to that standard daily. Those seeking to lead us must meet, not evade, that same measure of accountability.” 

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“For the good of the Commonwealth and the credibility of our justice system, we believe Mr. Jones should withdraw his candidacy,” Blevins and Schuler concluded.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jones’ campaign for comment.

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Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff

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Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff

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Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.

“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.

A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.

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Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.

“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.

Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

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Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.

“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”

Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.

“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.

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Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.

Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges. 

“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”

Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”

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The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.

“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.

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Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed

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Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed

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A Florida college student who allegedly ordered 1,500 rounds of ammunition to his dorm room also had a semi-automatic rifle under his bed, according to authorities.

Constantine Demetriades, a 21-year-old senior at Rollins College, was arrested by Winter Park police on Wednesday and charged with possession of a weapon on school property after the ammunition order was reported to police by the school’s assistant campus safety director, according to an arrest affidavit, WKMG reported.

After the purchase was flagged, the assistant safety director searched Demetriades’ dorm and allegedly discovered an unloaded AR-15 under his bed inside an unsecured black carrying case with one loaded magazine and five empty magazines, as well as a tactical vest, knives, a black security vest and ear protection.

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Constantine Demetriades, 21, was charged with possession of a weapon on school property. (Winter Park Police Department)

Demetriades, who said he likes to shoot as a hobby, told police he had the rifle on school property because he had recently returned from a Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey, where he said the guns were purchased and registered legally, according to the affidavit.

He said he did not have ill intentions and that he usually stores the firearm at a friend’s home off school property, the affidavit stated. He also said he only brought the gun to campus on one other occasion.

Constantine Demetriades said he did not have ill intentions. (Getty Images)

While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. Demetriades allegedly said he is aware that weapons are not allowed on campus and that his New Jersey concealed carry permit does not apply in Florida.

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The college said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that he is banned from campus until the situation is resolved, adding that an internal investigation has been opened.

FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED IN WEALTHY BEACH TOWN OVER ALLEGED TIKTOK SCHOOL-SHOOTING THREAT

While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. (Getty Images)

“On Wednesday, the College received a report indicating a violation of our weapons policy,” Rollins College said in a statement. “After receiving this information, we immediately initiated an investigation.”

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“We quickly identified and contacted the student, who cooperated fully with College officials and local law enforcement as we investigated the matter further,” the statement continued. “The student was arrested and is not permitted to be on campus while the College proceeds with the student conduct process.”

The school said Demetriades was additionally charged with a violation of the college’s weapons policy, and will go through the on-campus conduct process.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions

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Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., briefly sparred with “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl over what she claimed was “accusatory” behavior from the journalist.

Greene gave her first sit-down interview with Stahl since announcing her resignation from Congress last month. During the segment, Stahl and Greene spoke about the Georgia lawmaker’s apology for taking part in “toxic politics.”

“I would like to say humbly, I‘m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” Greene told CNN in November. “It’s very bad for our country, and it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, is that we, I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions, and I am committed, and I’ve been working on this a lot lately to put down the knives in politics.”

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TO APPEAR ON ’60 MINUTES’ AHEAD OF EXIT FROM CONGRESS

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gave her first sit-down interview with “60 Minutes” since announcing her resignation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“But you contributed to that,” Stahl asked Greene Sunday. “You. You, you were out there pounding, insulting people.”

Greene pushed back, claiming that Stahl had contributed to toxic politics herself.

“You’re accusatory, just like you did just then,” Greene said.

“I know you’re accusing me, but I’m smiling,” Stahl responded.

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“You’re accusing me,” Greene said. “But we don’t have to accuse one another.”

The two continued to go back and forth, with Greene repeatedly insisting that Stahl should also acknowledge her own contribution to toxic politics.

“I don’t insult people,” Stahl said.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously apologized for her role in “toxic” politics. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

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“You just, you do in the way you question,” Greene said. “And you are, you’re accusing me right now.”

Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment. 

Greene previously sat down with Stahl in April 2023, when the two had a fiery exchange over the congresswoman’s claim that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles.”

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE HOPES TO ‘MAKE UP’ WITH TRUMP AMID ONGOING FEUD

“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl exclaimed.

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“Democrats support — even Joe Biden, the president himself — supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene said.

“Wow,” Stahl reacted.

“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl had a tense exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her claim that Democrats were the “party of pedophiles” during an April 2023 interview. (Screenshots/CBS News)

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Greene shocked the political landscape last month when she revealed she would leave Congress Jan. 5. Many believe her abrupt exit was the result of her soured relationship with President Donald Trump.

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Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

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