Republican Party of Virginia Calls for resignation of Delegate Lee Carter, claims he abused power

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) has called for the immediate resignation of Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas, Bristow) for ‘abusing his power as an elected official in Virginia to bully and intimidate law enforcement officers and threaten to cut police budgets.’

This comes in the wake of a video posted on Facebook by Isaiah Knight, the Director-Elect of the Peaks of Otter Soil and Water Conservation District and Chairman of Virginia Families PAC, that appears to depict Delegate Carter saying ‘I’m a member of the general assembly. I write the state police’s budget. They’re gonna f***ing regret it.’

“Delegate Carter has not only dishonored the memory of George Floyd, he has also cheapened any justice that his killer will face. The law enforcement officers in Manassas had nothing to do with the tragedy in Minnesota, and did not deserve to be screamed at and threatened by an elected official in the Virginia House of Delegates,” read a statement from the RPV.

“When an elected official takes that opportunity to berate brave Virginia first responders doing their jobs to protect the innocent from violence, a line must be drawn. Lee Carter must resign today,” read a statement from the RPV.

Potomac Local News cannot independently confirm that the person in the video was Delegate Carter, as it came from an anonymous source, but we can confirm that the delegate was present at the protest where the video was taken.

Delegate Carter announced on Twitter that he was sprayed with CS gas (mace) on Saturday, May 30, by Virignia State Police at a protest on Sudley Road near Manassas.. Carter also tweeted that police tried to hit him with a flashbang as he walked away from them.

“Virginia State Police sprayed CS directly into my left eye after refusing to answer basic questions for 45min…. They tried to flashbang me again while I was walking away. Twice. They missed. I saved the hand thrown container,” tweeted Delegate Carter.

When reached for comment Sunday, Carter said he declined to provide comment for this news outlet.

The Sudley Road protest, which was held in light of the killing of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, began peacefully about 5 p.m. It later escalated as crowds increased significantly and unidentified individuals began throwing objects at drivers, causing officers from the Prince William County, Manassas City, Fairfax County, Virginia State, and Haymarket Police to arrive at the scene and declare an unlawful assembly.

“During the protests, multiple businesses along the Sudley Rd corridor sustained damage and two small fires were reported to shrubbery and a trash receptacle. Numerous police vehicles were also reportedly damaged throughout the evening,” stated Johnathan Perok, the Public Information Office Supervisor for the Prince William County Police in a press release.

Protestors, of which there were estimated to be 250, were asked to vacate the area by police and ‘given the opportunity to disperse peacefully.’ Many protestors did not follow police orders, and alleged the use of tear gas and rubber bullets against them. The Prince William County Police have confirmed the use of both tactics at an emergency meeting held by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors on May 31.

“Since I was in front of the crowd, I inhaled some of it [tear gas] and ended up running because it was too much to handle. I started coughing and I have to rub my eyes as well. Fortunately, I wasn’t hit by a rubber bullet, but it landed near me,” said Emily Jasmine Reyes, a protestor and Stonewall Jackson High School student.

The protest resulted in five arrests, including a DUI and ‘other offenses for driving through a police perimeter,” the injury of four Prince William County police officers, one of whom was taken to a local hospital, and the calling of an emergency meeting by the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.