Story of 'angry mob' attacking VA GOP senate candidate’s car doesn't match police records: report

01 November 2023

A Virginia Republican state representative's recollection of a 2020 event does not match the police reports recently obtained by HuffPost, according to an exclusive report from the news outlet.

"I got into public service two years ago because the personal safety of my daughter and me were threatened,” Rep. Tara Durant, a GOP state senate candidate, said during a September debate, according to HuffPost. "Two years later, liberal Democrats in Virginia, they continue to threaten our security. The only way we can stop them from controlling us is if we not only hold to our majority in the House, but we flip the Senate. That's why I'm running for Senate."

The report notes, "HuffPost reviewed copies of police reports, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, that suggest Durant instigated a confrontation with protesters" in 2020 "who regularly held peaceful demonstrations in" downtown Fredericksburg, "and that she tried to hit them with her car as they stood in a crosswalk."

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However, when she "regularly" tells the story, according to the news outlet, she says, "It was June 2020," when an "'angry mob' of Black Lives Matter 'rioters' surrounded her car in downtown Fredericksburg. They 'assaulted' the vehicle with Durant and her 12-year-old daughter inside." Then, "When she called 911 for help, the police said they had no authority to intervene in what was a city-approved protest."

After former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, at the time, obtained and aired parts of the audio from the lawmaker's 911 call, which the news outlet reports he described as "woman terrorized by a violent mob" — "Durant ran for the state House and won in November 2021 on a platform of public safety."

A Virginia filmmaker who was in the area the day of the demonstration, Emily Adams, "told HuffPost that the event was entirely peaceful, and was part of a series of peaceful demonstrations by about 30 local activists that were prearranged with the city and local police."

Emphasizing that Durant's description of the series of events is "'very much' blown out of proportion," Adams told the news outlet Adams told the news outlet, "She is exaggerating and she's taking Tucker Carlson's version of the story and I think running more so with that, which is even more highly exaggerated. Nothing about what happened makes her a worthy political candidate. That's what's really shocking to me."

HuffPost reports, "Local reporting at the time shows that the mayor and local businesses similarly described the protests as peaceful," as "local demonstrators had been marching for weeks in protest of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man arrested and killed by Minneapolis police."

The news outlet also notes, "the outcome of her race is pivotal for Virginia Republicans," because if Durant succeeds, "the GOP will control the full trifecta of the state government, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) will have the votes to push through a 15-week abortion ban that's been stymied by the current Democrat-led Senate."

HuffPost's full report is available at this link.

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