Gay former Virginia House of Delegates member Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) is one of four candidates running in a hastily called “firehouse” Democratic primary to be held Tuesday, Jan. 13, to select a Democratic nominee to replace gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria)

Ebbin, whose 39th Senate District includes Alexandria and parts of Arlington and Fairfax Counties, announced on Jan. 7 that he was resigning effective Feb. 18, to take a job in the administration of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger.

The Jan. 13 primary called by Democratic Party leaders in Alexandria and Arlington will take place less than a week after Ebbin announced his planned resignation.

According to the Community News of Alexandria publication, a public debate between the four candidates was scheduled to take place one day earlier on Monday, Jan. 12, from 7-9 p.m. at the Charles Houston Recreation Center in Alexandria.

The winner of the so-called firehouse primary will compete in a Feb. 10 special election in which registered voters in the 39th District of all political parties and independents will select Ebbin’s replacement in the state Senate.

The other candidates competing in the primary on Tuesday, in addition to Levine, include state Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, former Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, and World Wildlife Fund executive Charles Sumpter.

Another Alexandria news publication, ALXnow, reports that Ebbin, Spanberger, and at least four other prominent Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly have endorsed Bennett-Parker, leading political observers to view her as the leading contender in the race.

“I have worked alongside Elizabeth and have seen her fight for the values of our community,” Ebbin said in a statement, ALXnow reports.

Arlington gay Democratic activist TJ Flavall said Parker-Bennett has attended LGBTQ community events and is known as an LGBTQ ally. 

Ebbin’s endorsement of Bennett-Parker over fellow gay politician Levine in the Jan. 13 firehouse primary follows what observers have said is a longstanding rivalry between the two over disagreements around legislative issues.

In 2021, Ebbin endorsed Parker-Bennett when she challenged Levine in the Democratic primary for his House of Delegates seat in the then 45th House District in Alexandria.

Parker-Bennett defeated Levine in that race at a time when Levine, in an unusual move, also ran for the position of lieutenant governor. He also lost that race.

ALXnow reports that in his Facebook announcement of his candidacy for Ebbin’s state Senate seat Levine discounted the relevance of the large number of prominent endorsements that Parker-Bennet has received. In campaigns that last for just a few days rather than weeks or months, “it’s about turnout,” ALX now quoted him as saying.

Levine, an attorney, has a longstanding record as an LGBTQ rights advocate. He worked as a legislative counsel to gay former U.S. Rep.  Barney Frank (D-Mass.) before becoming a radio talk show host and TV political commentator in Virginia prior to his election to the Virginia House of Delegates. 

The firehouse primary on Jan. 13, which is open only to voters with identification showing they live in the 39th District, will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in these locations:

Alexandria: Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Public Library, 5005 Duke St.; and the Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St.

Arlington:  Aurora Hills Library, 735 18th St. S.

Annandale: New John Calvin Presbyterian Church, 6531 Columbia Pike

Hundreds of people took to the streets of D. C. on Thursday night to protest the killing of a U.S. citizen by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Protests began at the busy — and increasingly queer — intersection of 14th and U Streets, N.W. There, hundreds of people held signs, shouted, and made their way to the White House to voice their dissent over the Trump-Vance administration’s choice to increase law enforcement presence across the country.

The protest, which also occurred simultaneously in cities large and small across the country, comes in the wake of the death of Minneapolis resident Renne Nicole Good at the hands of ICE Agent Jonathan Ross. Good left behind two children and a wife, Rebecca Good.

Records obtained by the Associated Press found that Ross was an Iraq War veteran and nearly two decades into his career with U.S. Border Patrol and ICE.

Good was gunned down just blocks away from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020, sparking weeks of national protests. Minnesota officials say the FBI has blocked their access to an investigation into the fatal shooting, according to a BBC story published on Friday.

In the nation’s capital, protesters marched from the intersection of 14th and U Street to Lafayette Square, right outside the White House. Multiple D.C. organizations led the protest, most notably Free DC, a nonprofit that works to ensure the right of “self-determination” for District residents, as many local laws can be reviewed, modified, or overturned by Congress. Free DC had organized multiple protests since the Trump-Vance administration was elected.

The Washington Blade spoke to multiple protesters towards the tail end of the protest about why they came out.

Franco Molinari, from Woodbridge, Va., crossed the Potomac to partake in his first-ever protest.

“I don’t appreciate ICE and the use of federal agents being pretty much militarized against America,” Molinari said while holding a “Justice for Renee” sign. “The video of Renee being executed cartel style in her car was enough for me to want to come out, to at least do something.”

Molinari, like many others the Blade spoke with, found out about the protest on Instagram.

“It was my friend there, Sarah … had sent a link regarding the protest to a group chat. I saw it in the morning, and I thought, ‘You know what, after work, I’m head out.’”

He also shared why protesting at the White House was important.

“I already saw the response that the president gave towards the murder of Renee, and it was largely very antagonizing,” Molinari said.

President Donald Trump, along with federal leaders under him, claimed that Good “violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer.” The president’s claims have been widely discredited through multiple videos of the incident, which show Good was attempting to leave the scene rather than attacking the officer.

“I hope that anybody would be able to see that and see the response and see for themselves that it just is not correct,” Molinari said.

The Blade also spoke with leftist influencer Dave the Viking, who has more than 52,000 followers on TikTok, where he posts anti-fascist and anti-Trump videos.

“We’re out here to make sure that this regime can’t rewrite history in real time, because we all know what we saw … we’re not going to allow them to run with this narrative that they [ICE agents] were stuck in the snow and that that poor woman tried to weaponize her car, because we all saw video footage that proves otherwise,” he told the Blade. “We’re not going to let this regime, the media, or right-wing influencers try to rewrite history in real time and try to convince us we didn’t all see what we know we saw.”

Dave the Viking continued, saying he believes the perceived power of ICE and other law enforcement to act — oftentimes in deadly and unjustifiable ways — is a product of the Trump-Vance administration.

“There’s a line between fascism and anti-fascism. These motherfuckers have been pushing that envelope, trying to label an idea a terrorist organization, to the point of yesterday, crossing that line hardcore. You face the point of looking at history and saying there was this 1989, 2003 America, where we’re just going in, raiding resources. Where is this fucking 1930s Germany, where we’re going in and we’re about to just start clearing shit and pulling knots? Yeah, nope. We proved that shit yesterday.”

Two people were injured in another shooting involving federal agents, this time Border Patrol in Portland, Ore., on Thursday afternoon.

KC Lynch, who lives near American University, also spoke about her choice to protest with a group.

“I came out today because everything that ICE has done is absolutely unacceptable, not only killing this one woman, but also the fact that they’ve been imprisoning people in places that are literally, that have been literally on record by international organizations shown to be human rights violating. It’s unbelievably evil.”

Lynch also echoed Dave’s opinion about parallels between the Trump-Vance administration and the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.

“It’s literally what happened before the Holocaust. We should all be scared. We should all be angry. I’m so angry about it … even talking about it — I’m sorry,” she said before getting choked up.

Lynch emphasized that despite the circumstances in which people were protesting together, the sense of community was strong and powerful.

“I feel like it’s important for people to know that we’re angry, even if no policy changes come out of it, and it’s just nice to yell and be angry about it, because I feel like we’ve probably all been feeling this way, and it’s nice to be around people that are like minded and to like have a sense of community.”

An AIDS Healthcare Foundation client who lives in Venezuela told the Washington Blade he welcomes the ouster of his country’s former president.

The client, who asked the Blade to remain anonymous, on Thursday said he felt “joy” when he heard the news that American forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, during an overnight operation on Jan. 3.

“This is truly something we’ve been waiting for for 26 or 27 years,” the AHF client told the Blade.

Hugo Chávez became Venezuela’s president in 1999. Maduro succeeded him in 2013 after he died.

“I’ve always been in opposition,” said the AHF client, who stressed he was speaking to the Blade in his personal capacity and not as an AHF representative. “I’ve never agreed with the government. When I heard the news, well, you can imagine.”

He added he has “high hopes that this country will truly change, which is what it needed.”

“This means getting rid of this regime, so that American and foreign companies can invest here and Venezuela can become what it used to be, the Venezuela of the past,” he said.

The AHF client lives near the Colombia-Venezuela border. He is among the hundreds of Venezuelans who receive care at AHF’s clinic in Cúcuta, a Colombian city near the Táchira River that marks the border between the two countries.

The Simón Bolívar Bridge on the Colombia-Venezuela border on May 14, 2019. (Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)

The AHF client praised U.S. President Donald Trump and reiterated his support for the Jan. 3 operation. 

“It was the only way that they could go,” he said.

The Venezuelan National Assembly on Jan. 4 swore in Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, as the country’s acting president. The AHF client with whom the Blade spoke said he is “very optimistic” about Venezuela’s future, even though the regime remains in power. 

“With Maduro leaving, the regime has a certain air about it,” he said. “I think this will be a huge improvement for everyone.”

“We’re watching,” he added. “The actions that the United States government is going to implement regarding Venezuela give us hope that things will change.”

Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers has been on assignment in Colombia since Jan. 5.