Virginia NAACP Demands End to Qualified Immunity

We have watched with horror the Windsor Virginia police officer using pepper spray during a traffic stop on Caron Nazario, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The Virginia NAACP is rightfully outraged by the actions of these police officers.

Join us in urging Gov. Ralph Northam to call a special legislative session to finally end qualified immunity of police officers.

From the video, it was clear, the use of chemical sprays or projectiles embedded with chemicals to restrain an individual (e.g., pepper spray) to gain control of a situation was not needed. An officer firing and additional training falls short of correcting this type of behavior. The Virginia NAACP strongly believes that the Commonwealth must end qualified immunity for law enforcement now!

These dangerous and tragic events highlight why we need to end qualified immunity. The Virginia NAACP urges Gov. Ralph Northam to call the General Assembly to session and immediately pass this legislation.

This is a critical step in reforming policing in the Commonwealth.

Now is not the time for complacency. Expressing a renewed sense of urgency, as President of the Virginia NAACP, I am calling our more than 100 local units to begin fundraising immediately to support this advocacy campaign’s lobbying efforts. I am asking you to please make a contribution to help us fight to pass qualified immunity right away.

Thanks for standing with the Virginia NAACP in our fight to make Virginia better for all of us.

Robert N. Barnette, Jr., President
Virginia NAACP