Virginia Governor Faces Dealine to Veto WOKE Bill Designed to Dismantle Historicla Groups in Virginia

Across the country, localities are pushing back against the left's radical agenda to erase our history and heritage.  Several states have pending bills that will add or strengthen war memorial protection laws, as citizens, weary of the woke policies of the past few years, work to elect representatives and leaders who will not cater to the demands of our modern day carpetbaggers and scalawags.  

In Virginia, the democratically controlled legislature continues its assault.  This session, monument protection bills, simply calling for referendums before removal, were killed in committee by democrats, while a bill to yank the property tax exemption status on several of Virginia's finest historical and benevolent societies passed through both houses.  Last year, Governor Youngkin vetoed similar legislation after a flood of constituent communications, and considering the statement that was made with President Trump's decisive victory on the same platform, it is expected he will do the same this year, but not guaranteed.  He has not publicly commented on the matter.  

The veto deadline is midnight Monday, March 24th.  He has until then to sign the bill, veto it, or take no action, in which case the bill would become law.  

Contact Governor Youngkin:   

Use this online form: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/communicating-with-the.../
Phone: 804-786-2211
Email: glenn.youngkin@governor.virginia.gov

High Bridge Flag Fight: Judge Rules to Quash Subpoenas of County Officials

 

 

 

 

In the ongoing fight to force the removal of a memorial battle flag, judge Robert Downing ruled yesterday that Prince Edward County officials, including members of the Board of Supervisors, do not have to testify as to the motive for a flurry of new zoning laws that put numerous restrictions on citizens who want to fly flags on private property, passed after emergency sessions held just days after the flag was raised and dedicated.  In a hearing on the county's motion to quash subpoenas that had been issued by the landowner's attorney, Judge Downing agreed to approve the motion and quash the subpoenas, noting that he does not need to investigate the reason the zoning laws were enacted to decide the case. 

Although the county has lost at every attempt to have the 80' pole removed, after both its own Board of Zoning Appeals and a Circuit Court Judge agreed that there was no grounds to force its removal, it continues its persecution of one of their citizens.  In the latest criminal charges, county officials have pulled an obscure ordinance out of the bevy of new laws passed in response to the flag raising, and are claiming that when the flag was changed out due to weather and wear and tear, it constituted the erection of a new "sign" when the replacement flag was raised and now must conform to the new "sign" (flag) laws, which would limit the flag size to 1/2 of its current size, making it out of proportion with the pole size.  

During the proceedings yesterday, the attorney for the county made it clear that all charges would be dropped and the case dismissed if the landowner simply complied to their wishes and put up a smaller flag.   

That's not going to happen.  This case is clearly an attempt by the county to force a property owner out of the fight by outspending them and forcing them to give up.  A recent FOIA request found that the county has spent over $120,000 of taxpayer dollars on attorney fees for just the first set of legal proceedings THEY initiated. They have apparently greatly underestimated us, the landowner, and the fighting spirit we inherited from the very men that are honored by this sacred memorial.

PLEASE NOTE:   Due to circumstances beyond our control, the trial slated for tomorrow, Wednesday, February 24th has been POSTPONED. Please stay tuned for more details and updates. 

Contact the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors here. 

Contribute to the fund to assist with mounting legal fees  here

The Virginia Flaggers' Farmville Rt. 460 High Bridge Memorial Battle Flag was raised and dedicated in April, 2022 in memory and honor of the Confederate soldiers who died in battles in and around the area at the close of the War Between the States.  

PRINCE EDWARD FLAG FIGHT HEATS UP AS COUNTY MOVES TO QUASH SUBPOENAS

 

ATTORNEYS IN PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY FILE MOTION TO SUPPRESS SUBPOENAS AHEAD OF FLAG HEARING

In Prince Edward County, Virginia, a county citizen has been unfairly harassed and persecuted for over 2 years, since installing a Memorial Flag on private property.  Although a building permit was obtained and final inspection passed, county leaders met shortly after The Virginia Flaggers’ Rt 460 High Bridge Memorial Battle flag was raised and dedicated to determine how to force its removal after fielding complaints from a handful of citizens. 

After multiple zoning law changes and once numerous legal maneuvers and appeals by the Board of Supervisors failed in the attempt to force the flag pole removal, county officials drummed up a NEW set of charges, this time based on flag size, and has threatened the landowner with jail time and hefty fines if she does not remove the flag and replace it with a much smaller one.  Refusing to  comply with laws that were obviously put in place AFTER the flag was raised and ONLY because of the content of the flag, the landowner has been served with a warrant to appear at a hearing scheduled in court next week.

Ahead of that hearing, the attorney for the landowner issued subpoenas to have every member of the Board of Supervisors as well as the County Administrator appear at the hearing and give an answer for their decisions and actions in the continued and discriminatory harassment.  Late last week, the attorney for the county filed a motion to quash these subpoenas, arguing that the testimony of these officials would “not be relevant nor material” to the case. 

Citizens of Prince Edward County are left frustrated and angry.  What do members of the Board of Supervisor and County Administrator have to hide?  Why don’t they want the public to hear the details why they made these decisions and continue to throw hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars at persecuting one of their own citizens.  Many are furious at the costly attempts to deny this landowner her First Amendment rights, especially considering that property taxes are soaring, crime is skyrocketing, and county schools remain in disrepair. 

A hearing on this motion to quash will be held Monday, February 24^th at 2:00 pm in General District Court in Farmville.  The full hearing is scheduled for  Wednesday, February 26^th at 2:00 pm, same courtroom.    

Contact the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors here. 

Contribute to the fund to assist with mounting legal fees  here  

Virginia Democrats Kill Senate Bill to Protect War Memorials

 

This week, Democrats in the Virginia Senate refused to allow a War Veterans Protection for Memorials bill out of committee for a vote.  This common sense legislation would create a process that would allow for public input and referendums before woke leaders would be allowed to destroy war memorials for appeasement of the few and political gains, as has happened in several democratically controlled cities in the Commonwealth. 

 

"Protection of memorials for war veterans. Provides that it is unlawful for localities or individuals to disturb or interfere with certain monuments, markers, and memorials for war veterans or to prevent citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of the monuments, markers, or memorials. The bill describes "disturb or interfere with" to include removing, damaging, or defacing monuments, markers, or memorials or, in the case of the Civil War, placing Union markings or monuments on previously designated Confederate memorials or placing Confederate markings or monuments on previously designated Union memorials. The bill also deletes current provisions that allow localities to remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover such monuments or memorials. The bill changes an existing advisory referendum provision by limiting its applicability to those monuments, markers, and memorials that were erected at least 40 years ago and by requiring a two-thirds majority vote, both by voters and by the governing body, before any monument can be removed, relocated, or covered. The bill also establishes a process whereby any person with an interest can initiate an action against a person or locality that damages or defaces a publicly owned monument if a locality or its officers have failed to take such action within 60 days of the damage or defacement."

The vote was along party lines, with 9 votes to pass it by, and 6 votes against, with the exception of Republican David R. Sutterlein, who voted with democrats to kill this very modest, common sense legislation.  

Poll after poll has shown that the majority of Virginians overwhelmingly support protecting war memorials and recent elections have proven that this subject matters to voters in Virginia.  

A similar House bill is still in committee. 

Virginia Landowner Facing Jail Time Over Refusal to Remove Confederate Memorial

 

 

 

 

PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL FLAG LANDOWNER ORDERED TO COURT TO FACE PRISON AND/OR HEFTY FINES, EVEN AS APPEALS OF LATEST LEGAL RULINGS WORK THEIR WAY THROUGH VIRGINIA COURTS.

In a move that can only be described as petty and vindictive, the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors has authorized charges against the landowner of the Virginia Flaggers’ Farmville Rt. 460 High Bridge Memorial Roadside Battle Flag, even after numerous court victories and pending appeals.  She just received notice that her trial date on new, CRIMINAL charges has been set for NEXT WEEK, DECEMBER 4th at 2:00 PM.

A BRIEF history of the ongoing harassment and persecution:

In the spring of 2022, the memorial flag was raised on private property near Farmville, Virginia.  

 

Prior to the dedication, a building permit was applied for and issued, and the final inspection and approval authorized by county officials.

Almost immediately after it was raised, there were complaints by a handful of people who did not like the flag.  Under pressure, the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors met in closed session to enact an EMERGENCY ordinance prohibiting ANY flag poles over 20’ from being erected ANYWHERE in the county.   They immediately served the landowner with notice of various, bogus violations and threatened jail time and fines if the flag was not removed.
 
The landowner refused to be bullied, and we appealed the charges to the Prince Edward County of Board of Supervisors, who ruled in our favor, noting that Virginia State Law says that a building permit cannot be revoked after 90 days have passed since being issued, and that everything was done legally and properly.  Unsatisfied, the Board of Supervisors authorized the county to APPEAL this decision.  The case was heard again in the Prince Edward County General District Court and again, we prevailed.  Undeterred, the Board of Supervisors voted AGAIN to appeal this decision to the State Board of Appeals.  That case was heard earlier this year and we are awaiting the decision.

As of a few months ago, the Board of Supervisors has authorized the spending of well over $125,000 in taxpayer funds in legal fees alone, and that amount is likely to double as they continue the persecution.  This does not even take into consideration the time and resources spent by NUMEROUS county employees on this matter.

In the meantime, in an effort to prevent any further flags from being flown that may upset a few folks, the Board of Supervisors met in private to completely revamp the existing flag code, restricting the number, size, and height of flags that can be flown by county citizens on their own land.
 
Once these new, highly restrictive laws were in place, they waited for her to change out the torn and tattered flag for a new one, and immediately charged the landowner with NEW violations, claiming that since the NEW restrictions designate a flag as a “sign”, they consider changing the flag “putting up a new sign” and the flag site must now comply with the new restrictive laws, which do not allow for the original (and proper) size flag to fly from the pole.

Again, our landowner refused to back down.  She appealed these charges to the Board of Zoning appeals, (the makeup of which had been changed due to rotation) who ruled against her this time, and then to the General District Court where it was dismissed on a technicality.  She has appealed that ruling, and  is awaiting her day in court in that matter.

NOT SATISFIED, the county has pushed forward with criminal charges against the landowner and ordered her to appear in court NEXT WEEK, Wednesday December 4th, at 2:00 PM, where she faces hefty fines and jail time if she does not remove the “new sign” she installed (commonly referred to as changing out a weathered flag).

Contact the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors here

Donate to the High Bridge Memorial Battle Flag Legal Defense Fund Here 

 

 

BREAKING: NEW Massive Confederate Battle Flag Hoisted in Virginia today

 

This morning, in a small, private ceremony, The Virginia Flaggers raised and dedicated a 20’ x 30’ Confederate Battle Flag on a 80’ pole, on private land adjacent to Hwy 58 in Danville, Virginia. The Virginia Flaggers Danville Hwy 58 Col Powhatan Bolling Whittle Roadside Memorial Battle Flag was dedicated to the Glory of God, in memory of all Confederate soldiers, and in special honor of Col. Powhatan Bolling Whittle. 

 

The youngest of 15 children, Powhatan Bolling Whittle was the son of Fortescue Whittle, an Irish immigrant, and his wife Mary Ann Davis, a descendant of Pocahontas, and therefore he was the 7X great grandson of Chief Powhatan. A lawyer and graduate of the University of Virginia, Whittle was an imposing man, standing six and a half feet tall. Whittle was 31 years old when the War Between the States began. He volunteered and was commissioned Lt. Colonel of the 38th Virginia Infantry, known as “The Pittsylvania Regiment.”

 

 

His size and his courage made him a conspicuous target. Slightly more than a month after being shot in the right leg at the Battle of Williamsburg, Colonel Whittle was back, leading his regiment in the failed attacks on Malvern Hill. With the regiment pinned down at the base of the hill, the Federals began concentrating their fire on the color bearers. Each time one would fall someone else would pick up the colors, only to be shot down in turn. Seeing yet another color bearer fall, Colonel Whittle himself took up the flag and soon suffered a wound that required the amputation of his left arm.

 

Colonel Whittle recovered from the wound and while he could have honorably retired from front-line duty, instead he returned to lead the regiment in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, where he was shot through both his remaining arm and his left leg. Remarkably, he again survived, but his last wounds were so severe that he spent the remainder of the war as a military judge and quartermaster.

After the war Colonel Whittle practiced law in Macon, Georgia, eventually becoming a judge and a state legislator. Powhatan Whittle died on February 21, 1905 at age 75 and was buried in his family’s cemetery in Mecklenburg County.

 

This is the 17th Roadside Memorial Battle Flag raised in Danville, Virginia since Danville City Council voted to remove one tiny 3x5 First National from the Confederate Memorial on the grounds of the Last Confederate Capitol, and the 36th Roadside Memorial Flag raised by The Virginia Flaggers in the Commonwealth since 2013. 

 

To assist with our Roadside Memorial Battle Flag projects, please make checks payable

“Virginia Flaggers” and mail to:

P.O. Box 1427, Amherst, VA 24521

Or contribute through PayPal, here: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=8YRAE4VSPPKX8

Or pay via ApplePay/Square here:

https://square.link/u/Z7v9cKw

Virginia Governor VETOES Bill to Cancel Robert E Lee Plates

 

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced this evening that he vetoed 48 bills today.  Among them are two, passed by Virginia democrats almost entirely along party lines, that would have prohibited the sale of General Robert E Lee and Sons of Confederate Veterans Specialty License plates, and removed the tax exempt status of several of Virginia's oldest historical societies, including the United Daughters of the Confederacy.   

His vetoes mean the license plates will still be available and the United Daughters of the Confederacy will NOT lose their tax exempt status.

The vetoes come on the heels of last weeks' decision by the Shenandoah County School Board to restore the Confederate names to two schools which had previously been changed, and as part of a growing push back against the left's ongoing WOKE attempts to erase the Commonwealth's history and heritage.  

In a foreshadowing of his decision, Youngkin offered this response when asked for his thoughts on the Shenandoah School Board vote:

In poll after poll, and vote after vote, the overwhelming majority of citizens of the Commonwealth have expressed the desire to end the cultural cleansing and destruction that former Governor Northam oversaw in his tenure, and sent a clear message in electing Youngkin that they wanted to see it reversed.  It appears that Youngkin chose to consider the will of the people over appeasing a radical few, joining his fellow Virginia Republicans in standing against the left's cancel culture war.