By Ashley Brasfield
Republican Virginia Delegate Carrie Coyner alleged in an interview that Democratic Virginia Attorney General nominee Jay Jones made a violent remark about police officers during a 2020 phone call.
During an interview Monday, Coyner alleged Jones said in a 2020 conversation that if a few police officers died, it might prevent killings of other people, according to a Virginia Scope report.
The outlet asked Coyner to clarify what Jones was referencing when he reportedly said “I’ve told you this before” in a 2022 text exchange. Coyner alleged that it was connected to a heated phone conversation in 2020 about stripping qualified immunity protections from police officers. (Qualified immunity shields officers from federal civil-rights lawsuits unless they have violated constitutional rights that are clearly established). (RELATED: Democrat AG Candidate Reportedly Said He’d Put Two Bullets In Republican State Rep’s Head, ‘Piss On’ His Grave)
Coyner told the outlet that they had a “heated conversation” on the topic and detailed his alleged stance. “I served on the Courts Committee for a short period of time. A bill to remove qualified immunity for police officers, which protects police officers from personal liability in their line of duty and their line of work, and he believed they should not have qualified immunity, and he was trying to convince me to agree with that, and I said, ‘No, police officers have to make a split-second decision about whether or not to shoot a gun to protect themselves or protect others. And if they’re having to think about, will this strip my whole family of everything … are they going to be able to make that split-second decision?’ And I said, ‘I believe that people will get killed. Police officers will get killed,’” she said. (RELATED: Media Goes Full Damage Control On Jay Jones Scandal That Could Cost Dems Virginia Election)
Coyner then recounted Jones’ alleged comment. “And he said, ‘Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people.’ And I said, ‘that’s insane.’ But he firmly believed that if you removed qualified immunity, police officers would act differently, and I firmly believe that it would not result in good public policy, and it would put police officers and the public’s lives at risk if they have to second-guess themselves on a decision they’re making in a moment where someone is doing something violent,” she told the outlet.
The Daily Caller reached out to Coyner to confirm her comments were accurately reflected by the report. A spokesperson wrote back stating, “Delegate Coyner stands by her comments.”
While serving in the House of Delegates, Jones co-sponsored legislation aimed at eliminating qualified immunity for police officers.
Coyner’s allegations come amid news that Jones sent disturbing text messages to Coyner in August 2022 threatening former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert with “two bullets to the head” and saying he would urinate atop his grave. Jones was sentenced after a 2022 incident of reckless driving and leveraged his community service for politics by logging approximately half of his service hours with his campaign committee, according to a report. (RELATED: Jay Jones Used Community Service From Reckless Driving Conviction To Advance Own Political Career)
