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Virginia's attorney general pushing for anti-hate crime laws

This will be Attorney General Mark Herring's third proposal of such legislation. Two previous attempts have failed in Virginia's General Assembly.

NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is planning to propose legislation aimed at preventing hate crimes and white-supremacist violence.

Herring's announcement on Thursday comes in response to an increase in hate crimes in Virginia and around the country, including a deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in August 2017.

When Neo-Nazis converged on Charlottesville in the Summer of 2017, they caught many Virginians off-guard. There was shock and outrage something like this would happen in this day and age.

“That should not happen in Charlottesville or anywhere in Virginia,” Herring told 13News Now.

So, Herring is proposing six bills to target this kind of activity. His proposals would create more power for law enforcement to identify hate groups and step in before they commit violence. The measures would also bar anyone convicted of a hate crime from possessing a gun.

They also update the definition of hate crime, allow communities to ban guns in public spaces during a permitted event and empower the attorney general to prosecute these offenses.

“Hate crimes are designed to strike fear in an entire group of people, which may cross local jurisdictional boundaries,” Herring explained. “It may make a group in an entire region or the state feel fear or vulnerable.”

SEE ALSO: Hate crimes happening a lot more in Virginia

This will be Herring's third proposal of such legislation. Two previous attempts have failed in Virginia's General Assembly. This time around, Herring will tour the state in a series of round-table discussions to try to drum up support.

“We're inviting legislators and I hope that they'll participate,” Herring added. “If they can hear directly from their constituents about how hate crimes impact their community and, you know, if they've got some other ideas about how to address this, I want to hear them.”

Herring plans to introduce his proposals when the legislature reconvenes in January.

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