PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax and a U.S. congressman joined a crowd of more than 100 people rallying in support of a state senator charged with conspiring with protesters to damage a Confederate monument.

Supporters said the charges against Sen. Louise Lucas were a political response to her efforts to her reform the criminal justice system. They were filed as Virginia lawmakers prepared for a special session to consider proposals.

Fairfax called it “a targeting” of Black elected leaders “in order to exact political revenge or to take them out of office,” according to WAVY-TV.

McAuliffe also took the stage outside a Portsmouth church Tuesday night, calling the charges against the legislator an “outrage” and saying he hopes the case will be dropped, The Virginian-Pilot reported.

Lucas was charged Aug. 17 along with several others with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in June, when protesters spray painted and pulled down the obelisk, which stood 56-feet (17-meters) tall. A probable cause summary filed last month accused the senator of telling the crowd and responding police officers that the demonstrators had a right to vandalize public property.

“(T)hey gonna do it, and you can’t stop them … they got a right, go ahead!,” police claimed Lucas said.

One person was critically injured as a statue came tumbling down.

Other speakers vowed to raise money for legal help for those facing criminal charges, and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott of Newport News urged attendees to vote in upcoming elections, the newspaper reported.

Lucas, a longtime power broker who has served in the state Senate since 1992, has declined to comment on whether the charges were political payback. “It’s just an unnecessary nuisance, but you know what? I will be vindicated,” she said.

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