Protests continue as Virginia governor weighs resignation

RICHMOND, Va. — Amid reports that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was still debating whether to resign, protests continued in the state capital Monday as lawmakers returned for a busy day of votes.

In midmorning, a large group of protesters marched from the governor’s mansion down East Broad Street and back.

They could be heard across the Capitol grounds as “Ralph resign!” chants rang out outside the mansion gates.

As Richmond police officers walked alongside them, members of the group yelled in unison, “If we don’t get it, shut it down!”

Speakers called for Northam’s resignation over a photo on his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page that depicted men in a Ku Klux Klan robe and blackface.

Northam admitted Friday night he was in the photo and apologized.

But he recanted that admission in a lengthy news conference Saturday, saying he’s confident the photo is not him — though he acknowledged once darkening his face with shoe polish when he dressed up like Michael Jackson for a dance contest in San Antonio.

“I wanted to be Marilyn Monroe when I was a child for Halloween, and it never occurred to me to paint my face white,” one speaker at Monday’s protest said, calling Northam’s admission “ridiculous.”

Luis Aguilar, Virginia director of the immigrants rights group CASA in Action, said healing could start once Northam resigns.

“Our communities continued to be attacked,” Aguilar said. “An attack on the African-American community, an attack on any single black person, is an attack on us.”

The Washington Post reported that Northam met with his Cabinet on Monday morning and asked for time to clear his name. Most agreed, but some wanted to know how much time — a question the governor did not answer, The Post reported, citing “two people with knowledge of the discussion.”