Protective order and affidavit: Casino meeting with Petersburg NAACP ends in political chaos – Progress Index

Rolling the Dice: A look at the impact of casinos on communities, and the politics of the decision-making process.

RICHMOND What was supposed to be a meeting among the Petersburg NAACP chapter, Sen. Joe Morrissey and Del. Kim Taylor to discuss Petersburg casino referendum legislationdescended into chaos over a social-media post that resulted in the Capitol Police being called, a protective order filed by the Petersburg chapter president, and aNAACP representativeissuing an affidavit calling for the chapter presidents removal.

Dr. Lafayette Jefferson, the chapter president who has publicly opposed the casino, and Morrissey, one of the two General Assembly patrons of the legislation, exchanged heated words over a 2019 Facebook post about Morrisseys relationship several years earlier with Myrna Pride, his then-17-year-old legal assistant who is now his wife and mother of his children. Morrissey, then 55years old and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, was later convicted of delinquencyinvolving a minor and served three months of a 12-month sentence. They have publicly denied having sex before Pride turned 18, even though prosecutors possessed their alleged texts about their sexual relationship.

Last month, then-Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned Morrissey on the conviction.

At one point after the meeting became heated, Morrissey told Jefferson he would rip your f***ing heart out if Jefferson ever postedanything else about his family. The meeting ended with the Virginia Capitol Police being called to address the issue.

"If I don't think I could walk up into General Assembly and actually speak with my representatives without being harassed and threatened by someone that considers themselves a state senator, what kind of actual justice can I expect from the state legislature?" said Jefferson.

Morrissey, D-Richmond, confirmed he made that statement. He also confirmed that prior to the meeting, his legislative assistant gave him a copy of Jeffersons Facebook post.

The meeting Monday night in Taylors office had originally been called to address the issue of Petersburg holding a referendum on the possibility of bringing a casino to town. Last November, Richmond voters rejected a referendum that would have brought a $565 million casino and entertainment complex to the citys southside. Morrissey, whose Senate district also includes southside Richmond, then began pushing to have Petersburg as a potential host city.

Jefferson opposes the casino coming to Petersburg, saying it would promote predatory gambling that would drastically affect low-income families inPetersburg.

Jefferson, accompanied by Petersburg NAACP vice president Chioma Adaku-Griffin and chapter legal adviser Bekura Shabazz, met with Morrissey and Taylor to discuss the legislation.

During the meeting, Jefferson presented a talk sheet he wrotedetailing a casino's potential harm to the community.

"Studies show that casinos targets those who can least afford to lose and earn most of its living from people for whom gambling has become an addiction," it said."For the past several years, the City of Petersburg has ranked last of the 133 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The reasons for the last placed ranking are also why Petersburg is attractive to casino owners."

Among the questions he asked was how Morrissey could be makingpromises right now aboutwhat benefits the casino would bring, including the alleged $52,000 annual salary per job.

"I actually spoke with the CEO of the casino company that he was referencing to and he assured me they have made no deals with the city of Petersburg," said Jefferson.

According to Jefferson, Morrissey repeatedly said that there were no downsides or additional expenditures needed in bringing a casino into the locality.

More: What happens when a casino is built? Gambling addiction rises, study shows

Thirty minutes into the meeting, Morrissey unexpectedly showed a Facebook post Jefferson wrote about Morrissey and his wife in 2019. Tempers then began flaring.

Jeffersons post read, "Thomas Jefferson, for all the great things he did and accomplished, he accomplished those things while concurrently and continually raping a 14-year-old enslaved African girl. Joe, educated at Jefferson's home follows closely in Jefferson's footsteps. In a moment of complete transparency, when I think of him as a man 10 years older than I am (51), and then think of his wife who at that time was younger than my daughter (19). I cannot support that."

Jefferson also posted that Morrissey, who was running for the state Senate at that time, is smooth, personable and very polished, but game always recognizes game. Based on the legal issues, Jefferson posted, I will not cast my vote for him, nor would I ever.

Morrissey reportedly asked Jefferson twice if he made the posts. Jefferson looked at him the first time he asked, then confirmed authorship when asked again.

Morrissey then said, 'If you ever harmmy wife or my family again, I'm gonna rip your f***ing heart out your chest!According to Jefferson, Morrissey then got up from his seat and walked towards him while directingprofanities at him. That was when the meeting abruptly ended and authorities intervened.

Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, whose office hosted the meeting, told The Progress-Index she felt the meeting was moving toward its end when the confrontation happened.

The conversation became heated, and I was taken out of the room by a [legislative assistant], Taylor said. At that point, the Capitol Police were called and everyone dispersed.

Taylors office said she would have no further comment.

After the altercation, Jefferson filed a complaint with the CapitolPolice and then got a protective order.

When TheProgress Index asked why the senator would bring up a Facebook post about his wife in a meeting that was meant to talk about the casinos, Morrissey replied,The word family came up (i.e. the casino would be family friendly) and I said something to the effect of speaking of family, did you place these posts on FB about my family.

Morrissey needs to understand this is not me placing his family in a historical context, he placed his family in historical context with his actions, said Jefferson.

The next day, Petersburg NAACP Vice President Chioma Adaku-Griffin, who was present at the meeting, filed an affidavit calling for the resignation of Jefferson as president.

Morrisseys legislative assistant Matt Wheeler wrote the affidavit after takingstatements from Adaku-Griffin.

The document, which was provided by Morrissey's office, reads: "I personally thought Mr. Jefferson's post was extremely rude and offensive. As a result of his posting about Senator Morrissey's wife being raped, I as a member of the Petersburg NAACP am calling for him to immediately relinquish his Chairmanship from the Petersburg NAACP."

"I'm disappointed," said Jefferson, who found out about the affidavit after reading the news. "We called each other cousin because her ancestors are from Nigeria and belong to the Igbo tribe and so do mine."

Adaku-Griffin says that her opposition to Jeffersons leadership also comes from the NAACP Petersburg chapter failing to vote on the issue of the casino before taking a public stance. She says she is personally neutral about bringing a casino into Petersburg.

His objection has been in the name of NAACP. We didnt vote to have that as a campaign issue of NAACP. My stance has always been, let me get more information, Adaku-Griffin said.

Im not stepping down, said Jefferson. Within the bylaws, if I do something wrong or trifling, yeah you could take me out. But I havent done anything like that.

Morrisseys and Taylors casino bills are still being debated in the Senate and House respectively.

Morrisseys Senate Bill 203 passed out of the Senate General Laws & Technology Committee Wednesday and was re-referred to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee for further study before possibly advancing to the Senate floor. Taylors House Bill 1134 is scheduled to be debated by the House General Laws Committee sometime next week.

More: State senator says Petersburg casino referendum bill unaffected by Richmond plan to revote

More: Technical amendments to Petersburg casino vote bill could cancel Richmond's plan to revote

Both bills add Petersburg to the list of host cities for future casinos located in strategic points in southwest, central and Tidewater Virginia.

They alsoinclude language that would prohibit any city where a casino vote failed from scheduling any more re-votes for five years from the date of the rejection. Since Richmond was the only one of the original five to not pass the referendum, the bill if passed would not allow a revote until at least 2026.

If the General Assembly approves the bills, Petersburg City Councilwill vote to ask the Circuit Court to approve the referendum for the ballot.

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Protective order and affidavit: Casino meeting with Petersburg NAACP ends in political chaos - Progress Index