Judging by the number of local requests for state assistance, the George Floyd-inspired protest movements are losing momentum. This chart documents the number of incidents since Governor Ralph Northam declared a State of Emergency “in response to widespread First Amendment protests and civil arrest.”
The chart comes from a euphemistically named “First Amendment Events” dashboard maintained by the Virginia Emergency Support Team, the outfit that mans the Virginia Emergency Operations Center. (The chart labels are is confusing. The “June” label appears to mark the end of the month, not the beginning.)
The dashboard appears in the August 4, 2020 “COVID-19 & Statewide First Amendment Events Situation” report. This report apparently is not made available to the public, but Bacon’s Rebellion brings it to you courtesy of reader “WayneS,” who in turned obtained it from an unnamed government employee.
Local governments are allowed to apply for public assistance. In their applications, they must submit damage assessments. Total submissions so far amount to $5.4 million, distributed between Virginia’s seven emergency-management regions as follows:
Richmond (9 localities) — $1,832,561
Culpeper (12 localities) — $415,635
Central VA (10 localities) — 0
Southwest (11 localities) – 0
Tidewater (16 localities) — $444,363
Roanoke (12 localities) — $65,132
Northern Virginia (16 localities) — $86,551
It is not clear from the dashboard what kind of damage goes into the “damage assessments.” A link to a web page providing instructions on how to submit the assessments is not accessible to the public.
— JAB
