PORTSMOUTH, Va. — State Sen. Louise Lucas said Portsmouth's former police chief Angela Greene and Sgt. Kevin McGee crossed a line when they took out warrants against her related to a protest at the Confederate monument in Olde Towne in 2020.
Lucas used more than words to send the message. She used the legal system.
Lucas filed a lawsuit against Greene and McGee in Portsmouth Circuit Court on June 28. She wants them to pay her $6.75 million.
The senator contends that neither Green nor McGee had the authority to take out arrest warrants against her and that McGee began the criminal proceedings with the OK and encouragement of Greene.
There are five counts listed in the suit. The ones against Greene and McGee are: Malicious Prosecution, False Imprisonment, and Gross Negligence. (Gross Negligence appears twice, with one count against Greene and the other against McGee.)
Additionally, there is a count of Defamation Per Se against Greene. The lawsuit states that at a news conference on August 17, 2020, when Greene announced the felony warrants that had been taken out against Lucas and others, Greene intentionally made false statements about Lucas, even though there was no evidence to support the statements. The paperwork, as it pertains to the count, says:
As a result of the above-reference misconduct by Greene, Senator Lucas suffered great emotional and mental distress, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, embarrassment, mortification, shame, vilification, great personal trauma, stress, fear, worry, and injury to her good name and reputation...
The felony charges against Lucas, which a judge dismissed, were related to the vandalism of the Confederate monument that took place on June 10, 2020.
Protesters were at the monument, which stood in the middle of Court Street near High Street (until its eventual removal). As some vandalism took place, Lucas could be heard on video telling Portsmouth police officers they weren't going to arrest the protesters. Hours after Lucas left, some demonstrators pulled a statue down. The statue hit Chris Green and caused a severe brain injury.
Lucas' lawyer, Verbena Askew, said Friday (July 2), "I think she wants justice as anybody would. She will be vindicated, I think. Even though it was dismissed, it was a hardship on her. We are hoping that people will stop."
Greene’s lawyer, Thomas Plofchan Jr., said he doesn’t think the lawsuit will make it very far.
“It is not really based in a well-grounded application of the law," Plofchan said, adding that the counts in Lucas' lawsuit, including Malicious Prosecution, are valid.
“They would have to say that the judge got it wrong and the officer acted with some sort of malicious intent," Plofchan explained. "I am kind of shaking my head that this is clearly a pleading designed to detract or distract as opposed to having any real merit."
Plofchan currently represents Greene in a $15 million lawsuit she filed against the city in 2020 after she was fired.
Below is the lawsuit that Lucas filed. (NOTE: Pages 11 and 12 are missing.)