Sen Tim Kaine still backs VA AG nom Jay Jones after revelations he called for death of GOP colleague

Kaine was approached by reporters on Monday in Washington, DC, where he asked point-blank if he still supports Jay Jones in the election for attorney general in the state of Virginia. Kaine responded, "I do," and then tried to walk away from the press.

When he was pressed on the question, he said that he has known Jones for "25 years" but added that the comments were "completely indefensible." Although he condemned the comments, he claimed that comments from Jones calling for the death of Gilbert and his family were "out of character."

In addition to the comments about Gilbert and his family, Jones reportedly said that if "a few" police officers were killed, then cops would stop "killing people," according to the person on the other side of the text chain, GOP House Delegate Carrie Coyner.

The comments from Kaine came after the statements about police from Jones came to light on Monday.

Coyner told reporters, "We had a pretty heated conversation about public policy and pain involving qualified immunity. I served on the Courts Committee for a short period of time. A bill to remove qualified immunity for police officers, which protects police officers from personal liability in their line of duty and their line of work, and he believed that they should not have qualified immunity, and he was trying to convince me to agree with that, and I said, ‘No, police officers have to make a split-second decision about whether or not to shoot a gun to protect themselves or protect others. And if they’re having to think about, will this strip my whole family of everything … are they going to be able to make that split-second decision?’"

"And I said, ‘I believe that people will get killed. Police officers will get killed.’ And he said, ‘Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people.’ And I said, ‘that’s insane.’ But he firmly believed that if you removed qualified immunity, that police officers would act differently, and I firmly believe that it would not result in good public policy, and it would put police officers and the public’s lives at risk if they have to second-guess themselves on a decision they’re making in a moment where someone is doing something violent."

Jones has denied the account from Coyner, and stated, "I did not say this. I have never believed and do not believe that any harm should come to law enforcement, period. Rvery single day, police officers put their lives on the line to protect our communities, and I am deeply grateful for their service and sacrifice. As Attorney General, I will work hand-in-hand with law enforcement to support their work."

Since the report about the comments from police came out, the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police has come out and demanded that Jones step out of the race.