Gov. Abigail Spanberger spent Wednesday in the Manassas area for two events billed as open to the press. Local outlets got little warning. When a television reporter tried to ask her about the Sept. 4 killing of a 16-year-old Prince William County student in Old Town Manassas, she did not answer and left.
The Office of the Governor emailed its public schedule at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday — about an hour before the first listed stop. The schedule showed:
- 9:30 a.m. — Visit to Osbourn Park High School. Location listed only as “Prince William.” Marked open press. Media told to RSVP to [email protected].
- 11:30 a.m. — Working Families Roundtable. Same location label. Same open-press and RSVP language.
Prince William County Public Schools told Potomac Local News the governor’s office would handle press notifications and that the school division should not notify local media about the visit.
A later release from the governor’s office covered only the school stop. Spanberger toured automotive technology, biomedical sciences and biotechnology classes, met student leaders, and appeared with Education Secretary Jeffery Smith, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jenna Conway, Del. Briana Sewell, PWCS Superintendent Dr. LaTanya D. McDade and other officials. The release highlighted $2 billion in new education funding in the state budget.
Other coverage of the second stop described a tour of the IBEW Local 26 apprenticeship facility and a discussion of training electricians for data-center work. That site was not named on the emailed public schedule sent to Potomac Local.
The shooting she would not discuss
On Sept. 4, a 16-year-old Patriot High School student was killed as an uninvolved bystander during a gunfire exchange at First Friday in Old Town Manassas, near the train depot. Police charged Tasheem Rashad Douglas, 21, with second-degree murder and related firearm offenses, and later charged Xavier Wanzer, 19, and Talib Davis, 23.
WJLA reporter Nick Minock was at Spanberger’s second Manassas stop Wednesday. His 7News report said press secretary Jack Bledsoe told reporters the governor would take questions after the tour.
“After you guys can get her,” Bledsoe said, according to WJLA. “And it will be a gaggle.”
WJLA reported Spanberger finished the tour and left. Bledsoe then tried to keep Minock from asking questions. Minock said he had been told she had a couple of minutes.
As she walked away, Minock asked whether the criminal justice system had failed the 16-year-old; why staff did not honor the promised questions; what message she had for the girl killed downtown; and whether the General Assembly should appoint judges “that make sure things like this don’t happen.”
Spanberger did not respond and drove away, WJLA reported. Minock later posted video of the exchange, writing that she “ran away from my questions about a deadly shooting in downtown Manassas.”
WJLA also reported that all three men charged in the shooting had criminal histories and had been out on bond or released on summons. Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen said those policies “didn’t keep us safe on Friday.” Mayor Michelle Younger pointed to the General Assembly. Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth said her office opposed bond in Douglas’s earlier cases and that magistrates and judges set the bonds.
The governor’s Wednesday release on the Osbourn Park visit did not mention the shooting.
