On Saturday, over 100 people came together in front of the old Manassas Courthouse to peacefully protest Governor Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home orders. Small business owners, elected officials, candidates seeking elected office, pastors, and community activists all spoke and called for the coronavirus restrictions — now largely affecting only Northern Virginia — to be lifted.
U.S. flags, political signs, and stickers could be seen all around the courthouse grounds as the protesters clapped and cheered. The protest was organized by two Prince William County residents Christopher Lee and Zack McDonald. Lee, an engineer, and McDonald, a physical therapist organized the rally to engage people on the governor’s stay-at-home order, extended in Prince William County and Manassas until at least Friday, May 29.
Both say the government has overstepped its role by issuing orders that prevented small “nonessential” businesses from opening and church congregations from holding regular meetings.
McDonald said he hoped this protest will open the eyes of civil magistrates, and get them to trust Virginians to practice safe social-distancing measures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and allow business owners to reopen, to provide for their customers and their families.
McDonald used Facebook to organize the event, netting the attention of those who spoke at the event, to include former Prince William County Delegate Rich Anderson, Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, Republican Senate candidate Tom Speciale, Prince William Republican chair candidate Tim Parrish, 10th Congressional District candidates Alicia Andrews and Jeff Dove, as well as a conservative activist and blogger Greg Letiecq.
Chris Concannon, of Warrenton and an organizer for the recently held “ReOpen Fauquier County” rally, stood and read aloud the text of Northam’s Executive Order 55, signed on March 30, initially requiring Virginians to stay at home until at least June 30.
Protesters resist the mask
When he read the section that orders people “must at all times maintain social distancing of at least six feet from any other person unless they live in the same household,” Concannon quipped, “look at us now! Let’s just call ourselves one big family.”
Concannon went on to state that the restrictions had “flushed the economy down the toilet.”
More than 560,000 Virginians filed for unemployment since the pandemic began in March, according to the state unemployment commission. More than 400,000 state residents continued to claim unemployment insurance as of May 16. Most of them once worked in restaurants and hotels, all of which have hit hard by the state-imposed economic shutdown.
Former Prince William County Delegate Rich Anderson encouraged the crowd to defend their rights. Anderson served in the General Assembly in Richmond from 2010-2017 and lost his seat to current Delegate Hala Ayala (D-51).
“The governor has grabbed power that is not granted to him by the Constitution,” Anderson said referring to the lockdown orders.
When Anderson brought up the possibility of facemasks being required for all Virginians, many members of the crowd shouted “no!”
“I took an oath while serving in the military to defend against domestic threats. It’s time to protect against domestic threats,” said Anderson in closing.
Last week, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam hinted that during a press conference today, he would order all Virginians to wear face masks. If he does, the order would come after the CDC now recommends wearing a cloth facemask after it found a large number of people who have contracted the new coronavirus lack symptoms (are asymptomatic) can still transmit the virus to others through speaking, coughing, or sneezing.
Northam’s order would also come after he made an appearance on the Virginia Beach oceanfront Saturday afternoon without a mask, posing for selfies with beachgoers.
The Manassas rally also served a campaign stump speech for Anderson, who is now one of three candidates running to become the head of the Republican Party of Virginia.
Tim Parrish, a Woodbridge resident who seeks to lead the Prince William GOP, urged elected officials to let the businesses that can open safely do so. Parrish spoke about how people of all backgrounds are “hurting,” and called out elected officials directly.
“While [elected officials] tell us to stay home, you collect paychecks from our tax dollars,” said Parrish.
Protesters held homemade signs with statements that read, “what will you do without freedom,” “stop tyranny,” and “my father feeding me is essential.” Several families were in attendance with children holding up signs, too.
Prince William Sheriff’s deputies monitored the event on the grounds of the courthouse.
Cases increase, hospitalizations decline
The rally comes as Northam declined requests from the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and the Manassas City Council to allow restaurants to reopen in time for the Memorial Day weekend, with outdoor seating, at 50% of a restaurant’s normal seating capacity.
In the past week, coronavirus testing has been ramped up in Prince William County with the county government, and the Manassas City Government, offering free tests at multiple locations. The Northern Virginia region now leads the nation in new coronavirus cases in the wake of increased testing.
A total of 94 people in Prince William County have died from coronavirus. There have been nine deaths in Manassas and five in Manassas Park. There have been a combined 5,812 reported cases of coronavirus in all three jurisdictions.
At 1,376 on Memorial Day, the number of Virginians hospitalized for coronavirus is at its lowest since April 23. Of the 2,954 ventilators available in hospitals throughout the state, 611 were in use on Memorial Day, equalling 21% of all ventilators.
Tensions among Prince William leaders on the rise
A reporter’s email to a group of Prince William County leaders, to include Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler, sent on Thursday, May 21, sparked a series of events that had several high-ranking officials claiming Wheeler wanted to put a stop to the rally before it began.
The email from the Prince William Times stated Prince William County Sheriff Glendell Hill granted permission for the rally to take place on the grounds of the courthouse, asserting the sheriff had issued permits for the event.
In fact, no permits were issued to the group, rally organizer Chris Lee told Potomac Local News. Rather, Lee and his fellow organizers had briefed Hill and his staff on Thursday, May 21, as a courtesy, about their plans to rally at the courthouse.
The land is a publicly-owned space and no such permit is required for protesters to gather.
After reading the email, Wheeler told Potomac Local News she called Hill to ask if, in fact, he issued any permits for the rally. He hadn’t.
Similarly, no permits were issued when a similar rally to keep the 287(g) program took place outside the Prince William County Government Center on Tuesday, May 19.
The next morning, Lee was interviewed on the morning show on WMAL Radio in Washington, D.C. about the upcoming rally. Wheeler told Potomac Local News she heard the interview and heard what sounded like Lee characterizing Sheriff Hill as a supporter of the rally.
Afterward, she dialed the sheriff’s office again and asked Hill if, in fact, he supported the rally.
Hill declined to comment for this story, however, multiple sources told Potomac Local News that the independently-elected sheriff declined to respond to her, and told Wheeler, “I work for the people, not for you.”
Lee told Potomac Local News that a sheriff’s deputy called him the shortly after the interview to ask him if he told the radio the hosts that Hill was a rally supporter. Lee followed up that call with an email to county officials.
“Capt. Hardeman contacted me earlier today regarding a radio interview that I conducted with WMAL at [8:15 a.m.] regarding the ‘ReOpen Rally’ that will be held tomorrow. He mentioned to me that some of you supervisors (or your staff) had called him and were agitated at what you thought I said regarding the [Prince William County] Sheriff staff. Specifically, Capt. Hardemen asked me whether or not I said in the interview that the [Prince William County] Sheriff sheriff’s office supported our rally.
Consistent with my discussion with the sheriff and his staff yesterday, where he was clear to support our right to protest and right to free speech, but not the rally or its message, specifically.
From the tone of that meeting, I NEVER said in the interview that the [Prince Willima County] sheriff supported our rally.”
As Friday wore on, the halls of local government became ever more abuzz about the upcoming rally. A 1 p.m., Prince William County Executive Christopher Martino sent a group email to county officials notifying them of the upcoming rally, confirming that, despite the reporter’s email assertion the day before, rally organizers didn’t need permits.
About a half-hour later, Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson sent an email to Martino that stated:
“I’m very bothered to hear from Sheriff Hill this morning that Ann put you up to calling him and suggesting people be arrested at the rally tomorrow.
Had I or another board member called you with same request, I certainly hope you would have declined to make the call. Further, a call like that should have been a directive by the Board, not just the Chair.”
Wheeler told Potomac Local News that at no time did she ask anyone to be arrested at Saturday’s rally in Manassas, nor did she ask the police to arrest anyone at the May 19 rally outside the county government center.
Both rallies took place despite the fact that Northern Virginia, including Prince William County and Manassas, continues to be under Northam’s stay-at-home orders.
Wheeler was one of multiple Northern Virginia leaders to ask to leave Northern Virginia out of a majority of cities, towns, and counties that reopened, entering the first phase of the governor’s reopening plan.
At her request announced on May 10, nonessential businesses were to remain closed and residents continue under Northan’s stay-at-home order.
A Board of County Supervisors divided
The exchange comes at a time when the Prince William Board of County Supervisors is seemingly unable to compromise.
Democrats control the Board with a majority 5-3 vote, and they appointed 14 people to various lower boards and commissions during the Board of County Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, May 19. One of those controversial appointments was to the county’s jail board was Virginia Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (D-31, Dale City, Fauquier), and it came with fierce opposition from Republicans on the Board of County Supervisors. Guzman has vowed to end the county’s 287(g) program which trains local jail employees to check the immigration status of those charged with a crime.
It’s the same program that last week identified 35-year-old Walner Alberto Pichinte Echeverria, of Frederick, Md., of being in the U.S. illegally. He is charged with felony hit and run in the death of 62-year-0ld Alberto Anthony Marino, of Bristow, who was struck by two cars while crossing Sudley Road on May 6. Police are still searching for the second vehicle that struck Marino.
Hill spent more than an hour at that Board of County Supervisors meeting, prior to its appointment of Guzman, addressing supervisors about the jail board, of which he serves as chairman, by law. He begged supervisors not to “politicize” the jail board by making an appointment based on a controversial issue like immigration.
Prince William County Police Chief Barry Barnard is set to retire at the end of the month. He’s a member of the jail board and would be replaced on the board in the interim by Deputy Chief of Police Jarad Phelps. However, Phelps is expected to interview for the top cop job, and any action he could take on the jail board as it relates to the 287(g) program could affect whether or not he gets the job.
In the final hours of the marathon 12-hour meeting, Lawson motioned that, instead of Phelps, Republican Supervisor Yesli Vega — a former Alexandria police officer, a reserve Prince William County Sheriff’s Deputy, and the first Latina to be elected to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors — be appointed to the jail board until a new police chief is hired to replace Vega on the board.
Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin blocked that move and, in a substitute motion, nominated fellow Democrat and Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye to the jail board, citing his work with the NAACP and his work with local law enforcement as his qualifications to be considered for appointment to the jail board.
Eventually, both Lawson and Franklin rescinded their motions and the meeting adjourned. The Board of County Supervisors is set to meet again on June 2.
Potomac Local News President Publisher Uriah Kiser contributed to this report.
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