Statement of Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Majority Leader Charniele Herring

Richmond, VA– Eileen Filler-Corn, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and Charniele Herring, House Majority Leader, released the following statement: “We know the pain is deep. We hear the frustration. We see the fear and anxiety. There is no question George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor should be alive. And the racial inequities in our nation that led to their deaths should have been eliminated long ago.
We stand with Virginians across our Commonwealth who are angry, hurt, tired and frustrated, and yearning for change. We want to work with them to eliminate systemic and institutionalized racism in our economy, in our health care system, in our criminal justice system, and throughout American life.
Violence and vandalism distracts from our shared mission. We ask our fellow Virginians to speak out peacefully against these horrible injustices and help us create the change so deeply needed. Now is not the time for destruction, but commitment to reform and action.
As leaders, it is our duty to listen, but more importantly, it is our duty to act. We will not let the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and countless African Americans and people of color be in vain. We will remember them and so many others as we continue our work to address the inequities that have led to the tragic and deadly devaluation of African-Americans and people of color throughout our Commonwealth and our country.  
We will get through this painful time together. And, more importantly, we will continue our work to combat racism and change the system and laws of our Commonwealth.”