(LifeSiteNews) – The Democrat nominee for Virginia attorney general already in trouble for wishing death on political opponents also expressed similar thoughts about police officers, according to the colleague who received Jay Jones’ explosive texts.
As LifeSiteNews previously covered, Jones said during a text conversation with Republican state Del. Carrie Coyner in 2022 that he thought Republican Todd Gilbert deserved death more than murderous dictators Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot did and that he wished that the legislator’s “little fascist” children would die in his wife’s arms because “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
On Monday, Coyner told the Virginia Scope that during a phone conversation two years earlier Jones had applied a similar rationale to law enforcement in the context of whether police should be granted qualified immunity for their use of lethal force in the course of their duties.
“We had a pretty heated conversation about public policy and pain involving qualified immunity. I served on the Courts Committee for a short period of time,” she recalled. “A bill to remove qualified immunity for police officers, which protects police officers from personal liability in their line of duty and their line of work, and he believed that they should not have qualified immunity, and he was trying to convince me to agree with that, and I said, ‘No, police officers have to make a split second decision about whether or not to shoot a gun to protect themselves or protect others. And if they’re having to think about, will this strip my whole family of everything … are they going to be able to make that split-second decision?’ And I said, ‘I believe that people will get killed. Police officers will get killed.’”
“And he said, ‘Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people.’ And I said, ‘that’s insane,’” Coyner continued. “But he firmly believed that if you removed qualified immunity, that police officers would act differently, and I firmly believe that it would not result in good public policy, and it would put police officers and the public’s lives at risk if they have to second-guess themselves on a decision they’re making in a moment where someone is doing something violent.”
Jones, who had admitted to “text messages that I regret” in response to the initial story, denied the latest charge: “I did not say this. I have never believed and do not believe that any harm should come to law enforcement, period. Every single day, police officers put their lives on the line to protect our communities, and I am deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice. As Attorney General, I will work hand-in-hand with law enforcement to support their work.” An attorney for his campaign also reached out to the Virginia Scope but would not speak on the record so the conversation went nowhere.
Regardless, Virginia’s chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) says it has seen enough to demand that Jones end his campaign.
“The Virginia Fraternal Order of Police is aware of the recent text message scandal involving you, the Democrat candidate for Attorney General,” the FOP wrote in a Monday letter to Jones. “While this incident may have occurred in 2022, this conduct has no place in our society or democracy, especially from an elected official who is running to be the top prosecutor in Virginia. The men and women of the Virginia Fraternal Order unequivocally condemn these violent text messages sent by you about a political opponent and his family.”
“We have seen what this type of rhetoric has caused in other parts of the country. The men and women of law enforcement work tirelessly to combat the violence you wished on a fellow Virginian and his family,” it went on. “Therefore, the members of the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police believe that you, Jay Jones, are unfit for the office of Attorney General of Virginia. It is time you hold yourself accountable for these actions and withdraw from the Attorney General race immediately.”
Numerous state and national Republicans have condemned Jones as unfit for office, but state Democrat leaders, including gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, still have not called on him to drop out, prompting speculation about the political fallout. Before the controversy breaking, Jones was polling six points ahead of incumbent Jason Miyares. Republicans hope and Democrats fear this could not only flip the contest but also impact other statewide races.
