Trying to convince politicians to do something about white nationalist violence is something Attorney General Mark Herring knows something about.
But not because he’s had a lot of success — though he says he’s going to keep trying when the General Assembly convenes next year.
Herring has hit a stone wall in the General Assembly since 2017 with his efforts to say its a felony when a group marches with firearms, explosives or flaming devices with the intent to intimidate others.
If the year and the description of paramilitary activity seems familiar, that’s because violence as armed and torch-bearing white supremacists demonstrating against Charlottesville’s plans to move a statue of Robert E. Lee that year cost one young woman her life.
He’s also urged bills to expand the definition of hate crime in the Code of Virginia to include crimes based on a person’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilty, as well as measures to make domestic terrorism a crime.
“Too many Virginians live with the lingering fear that they could be targeted for violence or mistreatment because of who they are, what they look like, how they worship, or where they come from. We must do more to ensure that everyone in our Virginia family is safe and protected, and that we all feel safe,” Herring says.
Herring says he’s upset that General Assembly Republicans have blocked his proposals to address white supremacist violence, sometimes without even holding hearings.
Hate crimes tracked by the Virginia State Police have climbed in the past five years, rising from 128 in 2018 to 161 last year, though the 2018 total was down from the 2017 peak of 202.
Most rise from bias against blacks, a total of 62 in 2018, the State Police report. That’s up 27% over the past five years. Anti-Semitic hate crime is up 67%, but anti-gay and anti- lesbian hate crime is down 25 percent. The 12 cases of hate crimes against people with disabilities last year represents a four-fold increase in those offenses.
The State Police note that it can be difficult to track hate crime, because there isn’t always enough information about the motivation behind an incident.