Since October of 2025, We Back Blue (an organization I'm personally part of) took deliberate, documented steps to warn law enforcement officers and dues-paying members of the Virginia Southern States Police Benevolent Association that something was deeply wrong inside their organization. What we were seeing was not disagreement or poor judgment, but calculated deception.
The Virginia/Southern States PBA leadership had already made their decision and then worked backward—hiding it, minimizing it, and hoping the men and women funding the organization would never fully realize what had been done to them.
The endorsement was not announced honestly. It was buried.
Officers were not consulted, not polled, not even informed.
When the truth began to surface and members pushed back—forcefully, clearly, and in overwhelming numbers—the Virginia/Southern States PBA ignored them and pressed forward anyway.
That moment should have ended any illusion that the Virginia/Southern States PBA still answers to its members.
Instead, leadership doubled down, proving that the voices of active law enforcement officers no longer matter inside an organization that claims to speak for them.
Then came the pageantry.
And it revealed just how intentional the deception was.
The PBA proudly marched in the inaugural parade of the administration they helped install.
They were conspicuously absent from Governor Youngkin’s events.
That absence was not coincidence or scheduling conflict.
I know that as fact, because We Back Blue was responsible for coordinating those events.
The Virginia/Southern States PBA didn’t just choose a candidate.
They chose a side—and they wanted that choice seen, photographed, and rewarded.
What officers weren’t shown was what followed.
What was hidden from them were the consequences that would arrive almost immediately.
Not even one hour into the new administration’s first day in office, Governor Youngkin’s directive allowing Virginia State Police to assist ICE with the removal of criminal illegal immigrants was rescinded.
Officers lost a critical tool for removing dangerous offenders from communities.
It happened instantly, without hesitation, and without apology.
In the same breath, legislation was pushed to end qualified immunity for police officers.
That legislation placed every LEO in Virginia at risk of personal financial ruin for doing the job they were sworn to do.
This was not unexpected.
This was not accidental.
This was the predictable outcome of endorsing politicians who have spent years signaling their hostility toward law enforcement.
And this is where the betrayal becomes unmistakable.
The Police Benevolent Association did not simply make a bad endorsement.
They knowingly endorsed an agenda that would weaken law enforcement, strip officers of protections, and place politics above public safety.
All of it was done while hiding that endorsement from their own members until it was too late to stop it.
They didn’t just turn their backs on officers.
They pulled the Virginia state flag over their eyes.
They wrapped it tight and told them it was for their own good.
When officers finally saw through it, the outrage was immediate.
Current LEO, Fairfax County:
“I am very disappointed that you would endorse Spanberger. As a member, I was never asked or given a chance for input. This does not represent me. You should be ashamed.”
Current LEO, Prince William County:
“Are you nuts? This woman hates the police. I’m disgusted that a union I pay into backs her.”
Officer’s Spouse, Loudoun County:
“My husband is a PBA member and we both disagree with your endorsement.”
Current Police Chief:
“Disappointed that the PBA made such an endorsement without speaking to members.”
Current LEO, Smyth County:
“Many members are very concerned and question why they were not consulted before this endorsement.”
Current LEO, Rockbridge County:
“Do you remember 2020? How dare you support this. Jay Jones as AG alone should terrify you.”
This wasn’t fringe anger.
This was rank-and-file officers, supervisors, chiefs, and families realizing in real time that the organization collecting their dues no longer represents them.
When We Back Blue did what the Virginia PBA refused to do, the response was swift.
We informed officers of the endorsement so they could make informed decisions.
Virginia PBA leadership responded not with transparency, but with intimidation.
They threatened IRS complaints.
They threatened livelihoods.
They threatened families.
They attempted to silence people whose only offense was pulling the flag back and letting officers see clearly.
The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
In one instance, it was the founder of We Back Blue who secured a pardon for Officer Shifflett.
The PBA stood outside the jail posing for photos, claiming credit, and basking in applause.
They are always ready for cameras.
Always eager to claim victories.
But when it comes time to stand between officers and political harm, they disappear.
Officers must ask the hard questions.
These are the questions the Virginia PBA hopes you won’t.
Who are these leaders?
Are they active officers risking their lives on the street, or political operatives who have forgotten what the badge represents?
Do they share the consequences of their decisions, or do those consequences fall entirely on the officers they claim to represent?
When qualified immunity is stripped away, when criminals are released back into communities, when lawsuits target individual officers—where will Virginia PBA leadership be?
Standing next to you in court?
Or behind a podium collecting donations?
We know the answer.
Because we lived it.
We Back Blue trusted them once.
We believed they were acting in good faith.
We worked with them.
We supported them.
We thought we were fighting the same fight.
Instead, they pulled the Virginia flag over our eyes too.
And we won’t let it happen again.
That is the difference.
While organizations appear, rebrand, sell out, and vanish when the political winds shift, We Back Blue has stood firm since 2020.
We organized the first law enforcement march in Washington, D.C.
BLM protesters lined both sides of the street.
We did not back down then.
We stood with officers when it was dangerous, unpopular, and costly.
And we are still standing now.
We are nowhere near stopping.
Officers deserve representation that puts their safety, careers, and families first.
They do not deserve organizations willing to trade them for access and applause.
If you are looking for groups that remain focused on law enforcement instead of politics, look to organizations like the FOP or FLEOA.
Boycott the Virginia/Southern States PBA.
Pull your money.
Withdraw your trust.
Because when it mattered most, the Police Benevolent Association chose politics over police.
They chose deception over duty.
They chose power over the men and women wearing the badge.
And they deserve to be called out for it.
Publicly.
Relentlessly.
And without apology.
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