House Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas) stated multiple times in the last several days that “police are a threat to public safety in every community.” These assertions coincided with the ongoing riots over the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man that Philadelphia police shot for charging at officers with a knife.
Carter issued three tweets in a row, in each post repeating the same mantra that police threaten public safety.
In the first post, Carter shared a video depicting New York policemen beating a fleeing car with batons. That was the same car that drove through a line of bicycle cops. The original poster stated that the car was “trying to safely leave.”
In the second, Carter retweeted a video of Philadelphia police dragging an individual out of a car and beating them. Amidst the chaos of the riots and looting, another individual is seen being escorted from the car while carrying a child. Eyewitnesses stated that the car had been trying to back up.
In the third tweet, Carter included a post from Richmond Community Bail Funds reporting that at least one person had been hurt by police.
Community bail funds have come under scrutiny nationwide for using donations intended for protestors to release offenders accused of crimes including rape, kidnap, murder, and even terrorism.
Several days later, Carter repeated the statement after describing the death of Karon Hylton, a 20-year-old Black man hit by a car while evading a traffic stop for riding his moped without a helmet.
In an interview with The Virginia Star, Carter’s Republican opponent, Michael Allers Jr., stated that Lee’s remarks show how little the delegate reflects his constituency.
“First of all: I’m completely disgusted. This is an elected official, not just a Twitter troll [saying this]. I would argue the mainstream Virginians don’t want Lee Carter’s policies. This is a very fringe view that not a lot of people have. I do think there are issues in policing – but resolving those comes through meaningful reform. We should go back to community policing. What has contributed to a few bad apples is a lack of community policing.”
Allers added that Lee’s response to these serious issues shows that he’s not a serious person, just someone taking advantage of his incumbency.
“That’s why I call him ‘Poor Me Lee’ – he always baits people into reacting, and then plays the victim.”
Following his initial tweets declaring that police threaten public safety, Lee would retweet critics with satirical or sarcastic comments.
Lee’s spokesperson didn’t respond with comment by press time.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Lee Carter” by Walkingtalkingsatnav123. Photo “Virginia Capitol” by Taber Andrew Bain CC BY 2.0
