Lynchburg (Virginia) City Council votes down resolution to condemn vandalism at pregnancy center

WSET ^ | July 27, 2022 | Mia Nelson

[Morgana]

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Lynchburg City Council voted to not go forward with a resolution condemning the recent vandalism at the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center.

The center was vandalized last month, following the Supreme Court's Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade.

The resolution was proposed by Councilman Chris Faraldi. The motion to approve the resolution failed 2-5.

Faraldi said he is disheartened by the vote, and that he saw this as an opportunity for the council to call out evil for what it is.

"I truly saw it as an opportunity for the seven of us to join hands, stand together and put our votes forward and say, 'we're gonna call out what's wrong in our community,' and I think that was the right thing to do," Faraldi said. "It was really an opportunity for us to come together, and unfortunately, it didn't happen."

Councilman Sterling Wilder was one of the five council members who voted against the resolution.

Wilder said this is not something that the council has done in the past. He said by rejecting this resolution, it does not mean that he condones the violence.

"The violence was horrible. We do not condone violence, but if we started making a proclamation, a memorandum, an agreement or a statement on every single act of violence, it's going to be somewhat challenging," Wilder said.

Wilder said he believes there are other ways than this resolution to make statements about violence in the community.

Faraldi said he believes a vote to approve this resolution would have reflected the stance of the community on the issue.

[jeffersondem]

“They should have more important things to do.”

Name one thing more important than local public officials discouraging violence.

In other jurisdictions when the police chief’s bosses wink at violence, the police chief does too.

[Seruzawa]

And the commies running for office dont come out and say what they truly intend. Societal destruction.

[Albion Wilde]

Should have suggested a strongly worded letter.

/s

[Albion Wilde]

Lynchburg is an odd place. Liberty University, Lynchburg College (a track surrounded by a school) and a ghetto.

There are a lot of old Victorian homes, several restored as B&Bs, in the center of the old town, and a hipster shopping, restaurant and hotel area on the main street along the James River. There are some nice modest rancher neighborhoods to the west and south of LibertyU near Thomas Jefferson's summer home, Poplar Forest, which is also a great place to tour, btw. The overall demographic is still majority white. You have to know where to look.