Southeast
VA Dems reject resolution condemning political violence while House speaker cuts off Jay Jones references
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Virginia Democrats brushed off calls to condemn political violence this week after pulling the legislature back into special session to push a redistricting amendment aimed at reshaping state maps before the 2026 general election.
Del. Delores Oates, R-Front Royal, was yielded the floor to address a House session on Wednesday; introducing a women’s group called “Moms Say No To Violence Against Children.”
But, Oates’ introduction was short-lived, as she began to speak about how “our children are Virginia’s future, the heart of our families and a gift from God.”
“When anyone, especially a public figure, wishes harm on a child – that they die in their mother’s arms so they can win a political point, these moms refuse to stay silent.”
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After Oates uttered “die in their mother’s arms,” House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, slammed his gavel and announced that Oates was “out of order.”
Scott appeared to recognize Oates’ reference to text messages by Jay Jones, the Democrats’ candidate for attorney general, about a former Republican leader. Scott is a staunch defender of Jones who told reporters after the gubernatorial debate that Republicans should pay more attention to President Donald Trump’s past comments about ex-Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.
Scott then uttered, “sergeant-at-arms,” as if to threaten Oates with formal punishment for continuing to speak.
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Across the Capitol on the Senate side, Republicans unsuccessfully sought to insert an amendment into the text of the original resolution outlining the special session, which would have recognized the issue of political violence in Virginia.
Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg – who is also party chairman – drafted an edit “condemning politicians who wish death on children and families of elected officials.”
That too was quickly nixed by Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell of Mount Vernon, who recommended his colleagues reject it.
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“I don’t think this is something we need to take up as part of this special session,” Surovell said.
“It’s something that we can easily take up in the regular session later — it’s not something that’s urgent right now.”
The Senate GOP caucus responded with outrage, writing on X that “Surovell just told the world it’s ‘not urgent right now’ to condemn politicians who wish death on their opponents’ children.”
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Shortly after Surovell’s formal recommendation, the Senate voted 21-17 along party lines to follow his advice and reject the amendment.
The move would’ve added such language to the state Constitution, according to Del. David Owen, R-Short Pump.
“This is why elections matter,” Owen said. “Don’t sit on the sidelines. Make a plan to vote today.”
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Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell of Mount Vernon, left; House Speaker Don Scott Jr. of Portsmouth, right (Minh Connors for The Washington Post via Getty Images; Shannon Finney/Getty Images for SEIU)
Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, who was personally subjected to a death threat that led to the arrest of a Dinwiddie County man, fumed at Democrats’ rejection.
“As someone who has personally experienced politically motivated threats, I am appalled,” she said.
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“Violence has no place in our politics and refusing to condemn it is indefensible.”
In a statement, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate for governor, called the situation “disgraceful.”
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Southeast
GOP Rep Nancy Mace introduces ‘Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act’
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has introduced a bill to authorize the death penalty as a potential punishment for the sexual abuse of children.
“We have zero mercy for child rapists. Those who prey on our most vulnerable deserve the harshest consequence we can deliver,” Mace said in a statement.
The proposal is aptly called the “Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., announces she will run for South Carolina governor during a press conference at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 4, 2025. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“No predator should be allowed to walk away from the most unthinkable crimes against children,” Mace noted.
“This bill is simple. Rape a child and you don’t get a second chance, you get the death penalty. We will never apologize for protecting America’s children,” Mace added.
The bill would put capital punishment on the table as an option to punish those who sexually abuse children.
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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., attends the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“INTRODUCING: The Death Penalty for Child Rapists Act to amend Title 18 to authorize the death penalty for aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact offenses against children. It will also amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to authorize the death penalty for the rape of a child,” she said in a post on X.
“We’ve spent months fighting to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s network of powerful predators. We’ve demanded accountability and pushed for transparency. Now we’re making sure anyone who rapes a child faces the ultimate consequence,” she noted.
Mace has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since early 2021.
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She is one of the candidates currently running in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary.
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Southeast
Virginia Democrats talk affordability — and vote to nearly triple their own pay
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The Virginia State Senate and its Democratic majority may have voted to nearly triple their pay if a provision inserted into their final budget survives the House reconciliation process and reaches Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk.
The development comes as Spanberger has centered her campaign on “affordability,” with Richmond Democrats echoing that they are working to improve their constituents’ personal finances.
Virginia’s legislature itself was founded as a part-time, gentleman’s chamber, where lawmakers would return to their day jobs when Richmond wasn’t holding session.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs executive orders. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Proponents of raising the current 1988-established salary of $18,000 for senators and $17,640 for delegates say the structure restricts who can afford to serve as a lawmaker today. Lawmakers also qualify for a $237 per diem, mileage reimbursements, and coverage of office, meeting and other expenses.
Senators’ new salary would be $50,000.
Republicans were quick to criticize the final budget, with the Virginia Senate Minority Caucus saying in a statement that “teachers got a 3% raise, but Democrats give themselves 300%.” The actual increase would be closer to 178%, though one could say the new salary would be 300% of the original.
“The affordability hoax just gets worse and worse,” the caucus said, adding that the chamber’s majority killed a repeal of the car tax — something GOP gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears ran on — while increasing the state budget by $1 billion overall.
Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, told WVTF it is the “wrong time” to address lawmaker pay.
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“It’s supposed to be affordability for working families across Virginia, not members of the General Assembly,” he said.
Virginia’s legislature — the oldest continuous legislative body in the New World — has been making laws since its inception as the House of Burgesses in Colonial Williamsburg, where Spanberger gave the Democratic Party’s State of the Union response.
In her speech, she claimed President Donald Trump is the one “enriching himself, his family and his friends” and said Republicans are the ones “making your life more expensive.”
“I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high. In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare,” she said.
“Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.”
“Democrats across the country are laser-focused on affordability — in our nation’s capital and in state capitals and communities across America,” Spanberger said Tuesday.
The pay raise could be moot if the Democrat-controlled House of Delegates does not amend its own budget proposal to include the provision.
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The House’s budget includes $137 million for expanded childcare access, a minimum wage increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2029, and a $20 million appropriation for state employees’ and home health care workers’ collective bargaining, according to Washington’s ABC affiliate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the governor, as well as the House and Senate minority leaders, for further comment.
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Southeast
Virginia murder suspect in bus stop stabbing had lengthy criminal history, multiple dropped charges
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A Virginia murder suspect accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a bus stop earlier this week has a lengthy criminal history filled with multiple arrests, but was let back onto the streets nearly every time.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with the Monday night killing of Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, at a bus stop shelter, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
Minter was found by officers with stab wounds to her upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of killing Stephanie Minter, 41, at a Virginia bus stop. (Fairfax County Police Department; provided)
Jalloh, 32, who was seen on surveillance cameras exiting the bus with Minter at Richmond Highway and Arlington Drive, was arrested the next day.
He was arrested at a liquor store after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting. Investigators linked him to the murder a day later.
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and what led to the deadly stabbing.
A search of online court records revealed Jalloh has more than a dozen arrests in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding.
In most of the cases, prosecutors dropped the charges, FOX D.C. reported.
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Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus in Virginia. (Fairfax County Police Department)
Laura Birnbaum, the chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, said Jalloh was known to the district attorney’s office and was “acutely aware of the risk he posed to the community.”
“That is why we convicted the defendant of a 2023 malicious wounding charge, and have since made every effort to hold him accountable each subsequent time that he has come in contact with the criminal justice system, including asking him to be held in custody whenever possible,” Birnbaum said.
“Unfortunately, the defendant in this case also had a history of selecting victims with no fixed address – some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added. “In multiple cases, we were unable to move forward with prosecution because victims could not be located or contacted.”
Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed on Monday after getting off of a bus in Virginia. (Provided)
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An obituary for Minter described her as a “happy, jolly” person.
“A beam of light in dark places,” the obituary states.
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