See below for some reactions by Virginia politicians to yesterday’s horrific, inexcusable shooting of two National Guard members in DC by an Afghan national. First, here’s Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11), speaking on CNN last night.
- “I’ve heard what’s been reported publicly about…this terrible, horrific event…for those of us in the DC region, I represent Northern Virginia, we’re one region – DC, Maryland and Virginia. And even though many of us feel like the National Guardsmen and women should be home with their families in their communities doing their jobs there, we’ve also come to admire their professionalism and the overwhelmingly positive interactions that we’ve had with them during the time they’ve been here in DC. So to see something like this happen is shocking and horrific. And we’re all thinking about them and praying for them and their families in this moment.”
- “…obviously, as I said, most of us certainly on the Democratic side in Congress don’t think we should have National Guardsmen and women in our cities. But if that’s going to happen and when that’s going to happen, I think it’s incumbent upon the administration to lay out a clear plan to ensure their protection. And one of my concerns that I intend to raise as a new member of the Homeland Security Committee is the way in which the Trump administration has taken its eye off the ball in a lot of critical public safety areas and shifted resources to their mass deportation effort. So, they’re shifting resources away from illegal gun trafficking, from transnational crime, from anti-terrorism, both domestic and foreign, and they need to get their eyes back on the ball and focus on keeping all of us here in the United States of America safe.”
- “My message is the same. I don’t think we need National Guardsmen and women in American cities, certainly not in the District of Columbia. There are a lot of things that the federal government could do to help keep Washington DC safe and other cities across the country safe. I mentioned some of those things. They could do more, much more to crack down on illegal gun trafficking. They could do much more to prevent human trafficking and child sex trafficking. They’re taking their eyes off of that ball. I think that’s a better use of the federal resources than National Guardsmen and women in American cities, including the District of Columbia.”
Good analysis by former federal prosecutor and former VA Lt. Governor Democratic candidate Gene Rossi
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