7:59
Brief
The Bulletin
Richmond mayor to apologize for police tear gassing peaceful protest, three other Va. cities impose curfews, new COVID-19 cases dip below 1,000, and more headlines
NEWS TO KNOW
Our daily roundup of headlines from Virginia and elsewhere.
• Police in Richmond apologized after firing tear gas into a large crowd of peaceful protesters before the city’s 8 p.m. curfew began. Mayor Levar Stoney asked people to come to City Hall at noon today. “I want to say sorry. I want to listen.”—VPM
• On Sunday night, police arrested 233 people in Richmond. Officials said all were involved in looting or vandalizing, but witnesses report indiscriminate arrests of peaceful bystanders. Asked about the contradiction, the police chief acknowledged he was “aware of several questionable incidents” and is investigating.—Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Police in Richmond say they’re also investigating two use of force incidents involving pepper spray, one in which a reporter and photographer were targeted and another in which police were filmed firing the irritant into the upstairs window of a man filming the officers from his home. —VPM, VPM
• Virginia Beach, Lynchburg, and Fredericksburg joined Richmond in instituting an 8 p.m. curfew following incidents of violence or vandalism.—The Virginian-Pilot, The News & Advance, The Free Lance-Star
• Arlington County leaders said they were immediately pulling their officers out of the District of Columbia, where they helped U.S. Park Police forcefully clear protesters from a D.C. church so President Trump could have a photo op. “The County is re-evaluating the agreements that allowed our officers to be put in a compromising position that endangered their health and safety, and that of the people around them, for a purpose not worthy of our mutual aid obligations.”—ARLnow
• The number of new COVID-19 cases reported Monday dipped below 1,000, and the percentage of positive test results continued declining.—Daily Press
• A Charlottesville-area radio host partnered with a pawnshop owner to sue Gov. Ralph Northam over his executive order requiring people to wear masks inside public spaces.—The Daily Progress
• In Portsmouth, where major legal battles involving the city have become increasingly common, local judges say they will recuse themselves to avoid any appearance of impropriety that might arise from ruling in cases involving officials they know and work with on other issues.—The Virginian-Pilot
• Dominion Energy, the state’s largest utility, told regulators they’d like to extend a ban on utility disconnections for nonpayment during the pandemic.—Associated Press
• Nearly three dozen black alumni of Liberty University denounced school president Jerry Falwell Jr. on Monday, suggesting he step down after he mocked Virginia’s mask-wearing requirement by invoking the blackface scandal that engulfed the state’s governor last year.—Associated Press
• Candidates for city council in Roanoke are suing to reduce the number of petitions they must collect to appear on the ballot during the pandemic. A judge ruled favorably on a similar request in Richmond.—The Roanoke Times
• “Virginia’s largest payday lender is pulling out of the state ahead of stricter new regulations that will take effect next year.”—Daily Press
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