RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Richmond’s top prosecutor says she won’t file criminal charges against police officers who deployed tear gas on demonstrators gathered at the city’s Robert E. Lee statue in 2020 to protest police violence. In a statement Friday, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette McEachin said confused police radio communications led officers to use tear gas on a peaceful group of protestors who gathered at the statue. She said her review showed that police commanders authorized tear gas to be used at the nearby J.E.B. Stuart monument, where a smaller group of protesters was trying to topple the statue. She said radio transmissions simply referred to “the monument,” and officers at the Lee monument wrongly believed the use of tear gas had been authorized there.
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