Arlington, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorneys Respond to Right-Wingnut AG Miyares: ‘There you go again…Choosing to lie” and Trying to “stop criminal justice reform”

It’s good to see Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehgani-Tafti and Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano responding to right-wingnut AG Jason Miyares’ latest “political theater and not public safety” – announcing in Arlington a new group whose aim is “To Combat Progressive District Attorneys Who Are Soft On Crime,” and to fight against a supposedly “warped version of criminal justice, which is endangering Americans.” As Descano puts it:

• “There you go again @JasonMiyaresVA. Choosing to lie to the people about crime in our most diverse communities instead of actually showing up for work. In fact, crime in Fairfax was down 10% in 2021. We’re promoting a more just system while keeping public safety a priority. @JasonMiyaresVA‘s Trumpist political benefactors clearly have him consumed with returning VA to the failed mass incarceration policies of the 1990s that did not improve public safety and devastated Black and brown communities. Not in my community and not on my watch.“

And as Dehgani-Tafti tweeted:

• “The Attorney General for Virginia came to Arlington today to announce a new right-wing PAC designed to stop criminal justice reform. I hope he had a good visit and I wish him a safe journey home. But let’s be clear this was political theater and not public safety….In 2021, Arlington County and the City of Falls Church recorded zero homicides under our jurisdiction. In fact, from mid-September 2020 until mid-February 2022, 16 months, Arlington and the City of Falls Church did not have a single homicide. Zero. Not a typo. Zero… I extend [Miyares] a personal invitation to discuss how in just 2 years our team has become a model for how to run a criminal justice system that provides safety & justice for all.”

Now, if only Miyares would get off of his b.s., Fox “News”-style, right-wingnut talking points and listen to folks (like Parisa Dehgani-Tafti and Steve Descano) who actually know what they’re talking about.