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Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 25 NO. 45
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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✓ Free Press endorsements / A8 ✓ Special Election Section / B1 ✓ Readers voice election views / A9
NOVEMber 3-5, 2016
Officials ready to protect voters from intimidation By Holly M. Rodriguez
State, local and federal officials said this week they will “act promptly and aggressively” to protect voters in Richmond and across the state from any intimidation or other attempts to block their right to vote in next Tuesday’s election. The U.S. Department of Justice said district election officers
— all assistant U.S. attorneys — will be on duty in Richmond, Alexandria and Newport News from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. The FBI also will have special agents available in each field office throughout Virginia, including Richmond, to receive any complaints of violations of federal voting rights laws.
“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination,” stated U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente. “They need to have that vote counted without it being stolen because of fraud. “The Department of Justice will act promptly and aggres-
Opportunity time Please turn to A4
Richmond mayor’s race hit by 11th-hour surprises By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The Richmond mayor’s race has been turned topsy-turvy as the days count down to Election Day next Tuesday, Nov. 8. As the apparent front-runner, Joe Morrissey, scrambles to contain a new sex scandal with fierce denials, one of his six rivals, City Councilman Jonathan T. Baliles, announced Wednesday he has ended his bid for the city’s top post. Trailing far behind in recent polls, Mr. Baliles issued a message to his supporters on his campaign website that he was dropping out. His purpose: To help prevent the election of Mr. Morrissey, whom Mr. Baliles described as the “controversial and divisive candidate who has received national and international negative attention.” “I can no longer risk splitting votes with other candidates if it means electing someone who so plainly cares only about himself,” Mr. Baliles wrote. Despite his decision, Mr. Baliles is likely to receive votes because his name still will be on the ballot. So will the name of Bruce W. Tyler, who dropped out of the race for mayor weeks ago for the same reason. Mr. Baliles, who was not particularly competitive in majority African-American districts where Mr. Morrissey is considered strongest, argued in his website post that other candidates also need to leave the race. “The only realistic way our city can ensure that we are moving forward on the morning of Nov. 9 is for other candidates to withdraw and consolidate. Not doing so could result in the outcome so many people fear,” he stated. However, his last-minute call for others to coalesce around one person is unlikely to be heeded by the remaining trio of significant challengers to Mr. Morrissey. Each is more likely to regard Mr. Baliles’ departure as opportunity time, and a boost for their individual campaigns. The top three, according to polls, are Jack Berry, the former chief executive of the Downtown booster group Venture Richmond; Levar Stoney, a former Virginia cabinet official and the darling of the Democratic establishment; and City Council President and businesswoman Michelle R. Mosby. A poll this week indicated that Mr. Berry is
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Mayoral candidate Joe Morrissey, right, denies the recent sexual and legal allegations lodged against him by a former client during a news conference last Saturday led by his attorney, Arnold Henderson V, center. Attorney Paul Galanides, left, an associate of Mr. Morrissey, also presented a document rebutting the ex-client’s claims.
leading in four council districts, most notably in the 3rd District, and is building his lead in three majority white districts, the 1st, 2nd and 4th. To win as mayor, a candidate must receive more votes than anyone else in at least five of
the nine City Council districts; otherwise there will be a runoff in December between the two top vote-getters. According to past polls, Mr. Morrissey has been considered well ahead in at least four ma-
jority African-American districts, including the 6th, 7th and 8th, as well as the 9th District that Ms. Mosby represents. He also is considered to Please turn to A4
Black patrons turned away from Fan restaurant By Jeremy M. Lazarus
rant in The Fan for Sunday brunch with her boyfriend, her brother and friends to Is a Richmond restaurant using a “dress celebrate her 23rd birthday. code” to bar African-American patrons? But the group never got inside the To Amanda Whitlow, it seemed that restaurant at 1911 W. Main St., the former way when she went to District 5 restau- Martini Kitchen and Bubble Bar, a favorite with the African-American community that closed in 2014. A new group opened it 16 months ago as District 5. When Ms. Whitlow tried to go in Sept. 18 for her birthday celebration, she and others said a security guard refused to allow at least two men in the group to enter, including her boyfriend, Dexter Johnson. The reason: The “basketball shoes” they were wearing violated the restaurant’s “dress code.” A Free Press reporter did not see any information posted about a dress code on a visit to District 5 last week, and it was noticeable that no African-American patrons were inside. The restaurant also does not post any information about a “dress code” on its website. The restaurant has big front windows, and File photo “you could see people inside wearing those Richard Loving embraces his wife, Mildred, at a Washington press running pants, sweatpants and sneakers conference on June 13, 1967, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturned the ban on interracial marriage in Virginia and 15 other states.
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Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Casting a spell From left, spider sorceress Kayla Samuels and 1970s flower child Dior Flax, both 7, and skeleton Aniyah Thompson, 8, work magic with their smiles last Saturday as they shopped for candy and spotted zombies during the 12th Annual Zombie Walk in Carytown two days before Halloween. Please see more photos of costumed zombies, Page C2.
Virginia is for ‘Loving’ Officer acquitted in shooting By Lauren Northington
Six years after Mildred Loving’s death in Caroline County outside of Richmond, people from all over the world still post messages on a website with her online obituary. Mrs. Loving and her husband, Richard, helped change Virginia’s and the nation’s marriage equality laws in 1967. Richard, who was white, and Mildred, who was black and Native American, broke the law by marrying in 1958. They were arrested in their small, Central Point
home for violating Virginia’s ban against interracial marriage. Their case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court, which overturned miscegenation laws in Virginia and 15 other states in its 1967 ruling. The decision allowed the Lovings to return from exile to their modest Virginia homestead. Their marriage and historic legal victory are the subject of the Universal Studios Please turn to A4
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Henrico Police Officer Joel D. Greenway did nothing wrong when he shot up a car he was trying to stop from leaving a gas station’s parking lot on Nine Mile Road, gravely wounding a female passenger in unleashing seven bullets at the unarmed occupants. That was the finding of a Henrico County jury last week following a three-day trial in a case that tracked the familiar national pattern of white police officers unloading their weapons on AfricanAmericans claiming they feared for their lives. The jury of six men and six women, which
included three African-Americans — two women and one man, deliberated for 10 hours over two days before exonerating Officer Greenway last Friday. He had been charged with three felonies— malicious wounding, shooting into an occupied vehicle and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. While a huge relief to the officer and his family, the outcome was a stunning blow to prosecutors and devastating to Kimberly McNeil and her family. Ms. McNeil was shot four times by Officer Please turn to A4