The Left’s Problem with Violence Continues

Colin Slechta, CA - Writer

Jay Jones, Democratic nominee for attorney general in Virginia, has been embroiled in scandal since the start of October concerning leaked text messages threatening violence against Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. 

Delegate Carrie Coyner received the messages and shared them with the National Review. "Three bullets, two people," Jones texted Coyner. "Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot." When these messages were sent in August 2022, Gilbert was serving as speaker. “Gilbert gets two bullets in the head," Jones wrote. "Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets."

The messages are especially damning considering the recent assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year. This violent rhetoric coming from the left is emblematic of a deep moral decline within the country. The fact that Jones has not dropped out of this race is a severe indictment of Virginia Democrats. 

Jones’ comments about Speaker Gilbert were not an isolated fluke, but rather a routine pattern. Coyner accused Jones of arguing that police officers must be killed in order for there to be change in the justice system: “I believe that people will get killed. Police officers will get killed,” and further said, “Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people.”

An attorney general who fantasizes about summarily executing a political opponent and sees the killing of police officers in the line of duty as political capital is not what the people of Virginia deserve. These two scandals were simply not enough for Jones, however.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that Jones was pulled over at around 12:55 a.m. in January 2022 for driving 116 mph on I-64. Jones was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and complete 1,000 hours of community service. Adding insult to the people of Virginia, half of that community service was done for Jones’ own PAC, Meet Our Movement.

These actions show that Jones is beyond parody; he is the caricature of a sleazy career politician. One shudders to think of what would happen to the many Virginians who hold similar views to Todd Gilbert or Charlie Kirk if Jones were to be elected attorney general. 

Perhaps even more concerning than Jones’ text messages, reckless speeding, and chicanery is that Democrats still seem intent on running Jones as a candidate. 

“I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years, and those comments are very much out of character for him,” Senator Tim Kaine told CNN in a recent interview. “So if I put the comments, which are clearly beyond the pale, against knowing this guy for 25 years, I’m still supporting Jay Jones.” 

Democrats seem content to support Jones despite the recent spike in violence from the left that is fueled by this divisive language. If Jones is elected to serve as Virginia’s attorney general, it will send a clear signal to the rest of the nation that political violence is acceptable, which is a dangerous precedent that will have catastrophic consequences for our republic.