Rejected Federal Money

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Virginia Democrats Rejected Federal Money To Combat Gun Crime?

Matt Vespa

Virginia Democrats are a total mess. Yes, it may not be reported extensively now, but Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam wore blackface in the 1980s. The state attorney general, Mark Herring, also did it. And Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is facing two allegations of rape. The entire Democratic leadership was engulfed in scandal, but no one has resigned because Democrats play by a separate set of rules. You can be racist, be a Democrat, and survive. The state was the laughingstock of the country for a few news cycles, but now Impeachment Theater is taking the Hill by storm because Trump had a phone call with the Ukrainians. It’s a total hit job—what else is new—but back to the Old Dominion.

The Democratic Party is pro-open borders on immigration. We have 2020 candidates discussing decriminalizing border crossings and giving health care to illegal aliens. Oh, and they hate Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It is part of their overall animosity towards law enforcement due to the Black Lives Matter nonsense, and yet they think these are the only people who should be trusted with firearms. That animus is so great that it appears state Democrats rejected government funds to fight gun crime because of the provision to share immigration data with federal law enforcement authorities. Firearms reporter Stephen Gutowski has more (via Free Beacon):

Virginia turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal money used to combat gun crime in 2018, rather than comply with federal immigration authorities, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

A series of Department of Justice memos show that two anti-gun-crime grants were transferred from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which had previously administered the program, in Dec. 2018. The memos say the transfer was necessary after state officials refused to certify that Virginia would comply with federal requirements to share immigration information with federal law enforcement.

"DCJS will not be able to comply with the requirements and the agency has formally declined the awards," a DOJ official said in one memo. "The grants were awarded to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to serve as the fiscal agent for the 2018 Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) awards for the Eastern and Western Districts of the state of Virginia."

Democratic governor Ralph Northam, a supporter of gun control reforms, and his administration lost out on $665,673 in grant funding that is specifically aimed at reducing gun crimes. The grants are now administered through the non-profit Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. A Northam spokeswoman declined to comment on the transfer but said the governor supports the program and how the non-profit has handled it.

So, the man who wants to enact a stringent anti-gun agenda, one that includes confiscatory measures, rejected funds for an action item that would share bipartisan support because of ICE. Screw saving lives if it means keeping illegals here—is that the message? That’s how it should be taken. We’re not going to fight certain aspects of crime because we might have to work with federal immigration authorities who are working to find and deport people who shouldn’t be here, mostly gang members, isn’t a winning message, especially for suburban voters who are becoming more uneasy about illegal alien violence. 

Northam is sure showing his dark side.