GOP Virginia Governor Candidate's Facebook Account Suspended

VIRGINIA — Facebook has suspended the account of State Sen. Amanda Chase, a candidate for Virginia governor and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump.

The suspension applied to her state senator page on Facebook. She shared the news of the suspended account from her personal Facebook account.

"Facebook continues to restrict free speech," wrote Chase. "Because what I have to say does not fit their narrative my Senator Amanda Chase page has been silenced for 60 days. We no longer have free speech here in America."

Chase elaborated to the Washington Post that posts or comments from the state Senate Facebook page are not allowed for a week, and live video is not allowed for 60 days. The Post did not receive an immediate response from Facebook.

On her state Senate Facebook page, Chase shared several posts that Facebook has labeled as "false information." That included a Washington Times article claiming facial recognition firm finds Antifa infiltrated Trump supporters. However, the Washington Times corrected that article to indicate the firm did not identify Antifa members.

The day before Chase announced her Facebook account suspension, Facebook suspended Trump's account indefinitely and Twitter temporarily suspended his account after Wednesday's riot. The Twitter account is now active, as the president tweeted in support of his voters and said he will not attend President-elect Joe Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration.

Chase had attended the pro-Trump rally on Wednesday posted video from the National Mall. She also shared a 16-minute video responding to the rally turning violent when a mob breached the U.S. Capitol. The riot led to five deaths: one person who was shot and killed, a Capitol Police officer who died of injuries sustained during the attack, and three others who had medical emergencies.

"I will tell you that while I do support peaceful protest, that I believe we the people have had enough," Chase said in the video after Wednesday's event. "And when you back good people, law-abiding citizens, into the corner, they will push back when you give them no other options, when you cheat them of their elections, when you take away their constitutional rights and freedoms, you're backing the patriots like myself into a corner."

The Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus put out a statement Friday calling for Chase's resignation. Chase, who represents the 11th district in the state Senate, is running for governor in 2021, along with Republicans Kirk Cox, Kurt Santini, Merle Rutledge and Democrats Justin Fairfax, Jennifer Carroll Foy, Jennifer McClellan, Terry McAuliffe and Lee Carter.