WOODBRIDGE, Va. (WAVY) — Several community leaders were on a video call Wednesday night with Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Caroll Foy to discuss everyday issues Black men face in the United States and possible solutions to them.
The event, hosted by Carroll Foy, lasted about an hour. The topics included mental health, police brutality, housing insecurities, and other systems that organizers believe disproportionately hurt marginalized communities.
Among those in attendance was the father of Donovon Lynch, Wayne Lynch, who was shot and killed by Virginia Beach Police in late March. Wayne spoke briefly about the importance of Virginia putting a mandatory civilian review board in place.
“My son was murdered by the Virginia Beach Police Department March the 26,” said Wayne. “And we still have not gotten any information for why that happened.”
Towards the end of the meeting, he mentioned his goal of getting Donovon’s Law to become the standard across the United States, after getting it passed in Virginia. The law would require that cities with more than 100,000 people would have a civilian review board in place to go over cases like his son’s.
Jennifer Carroll Foy said she hopes to have more of these roundtables in the future.