‘ASSUMED MY GUILT’

VA Lt. Gov. Fairfax: I Was Treated Like George Floyd and Emmett Till Over Sex-Assault Claims

Justin Fairfax said he was treated like Floyd or Emmett Till in the days after he was accused of sexual assault two years ago.

There is a hell of a lot of bad feeling inside the Virginia Democratic Party—and it was on show for all to see Tuesday night during a bad-tempered first debate for its gubernatorial primary. The most extraordinary moment came when Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who is Black, accused Terry McAuliffe—the former governor and leading candidate in this year’s primary—of treating him like George Floyd or Emmett Till after Fairfax was accused of sexual assault two years ago. Fairfax recalled the days after the claims went public, saying: “Everyone here on the stage called for my immediate resignation, including Terry McAuliffe.... He treated me like George Floyd. He treated me like Emmett Till. No due process, immediately assumed my guilt.” Two women accused Fairfax of sexual assault in 2019—claims that he has denied. The allegations came shortly after Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam was shown wearing blackface in a decades-old photo.