A house bill that would have given local governments control over Confederate monuments was defeated Wednesday morning.
Democratic Delegate David Toscano sponsored the bill, motivated by the damage caused by the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017. This is the second year in a row Toscano has pushed for changes to a state law that makes it illegal for localities to remove or alter war memorials.
Lisa Draine, whose daughter was severely injured by a man that drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters at that rally, drove to the state capitol from Charlottesville on Wednesday. Draine asked members of the Republican controlled subcommittee to imagine if their child was injured because of a statue.
“I feel like the trauma that our community experienced should allow us the ability to choose whether we want to have these objects that inspire hate and violence in our public spaces," said Draine.
The bill was voted down 5-2 with Democratic Delegate Steve Heretick siding with Republicans.