CHESAPEAKE, Va. - A Chesapeake man has filed a recall petition seeking to recall State Sen. L. Louise Lucas and remove her from office, accusing her of a "misuse of office" related to the protest at the city's Confederate monument last summer.
Chesapeake resident Nelson Velez filed the petition in Chesapeake Circuit Court on Tuesday.
Velez says the process has been underway since the protest at the Confederate monument on High Street in June 2020, during which a man was seriously injured after a piece of the statue fell on top of him as protesters tore it down.
In the petition, Velez alleges that Lucas, "using the authority of her office and position in the public, directed the Portsmouth Police Department Officers to not arrest any protestors and that the protestors were within their rights as taxpayers to vandalize the statue if they chose to." It goes on to say that police did not arrest anyone based on Lucas' orders.
Lucas appeared in court in September 2020 on charges related to the incident. The charges against her and other local leaders were dismissed in November.
Velez says he has more than 5,000 signatures, which is more than the 4,400 or so he needed.
News 3 has reached out to Sen. Lucas for comment, but we have not heard back.
