Learn More → State by State
Virginia
Political repression plays out state by state — shaped by local institutions, prosecutors, and movements for defense. These are the documented political prisoners and cases the census holds for Virginia.
208Documented
6In custody
164Released
2Awaiting trial
Eras of repression in Virginia
Where Virginia’s entries fall across the census’s historical eras.
1800s 42
2020s 30
1970s 28
1930s 20
2010s 18
2000s 18
Recent dashboard entries from Virginia
The newest published events and reporting located in Virginia, updated automatically from the live dashboard.
Other
NYT: CIA Secretly Established New Cuba Task Force
Other
Fourth Circuit upholds Badar Khan Suri’s release and rejects government bid to re-detain him
Protest
Richmond protesters demand a statewide moratorium on new Virginia data-center approvals
Other
Trump Loyalist Bill Pulte Begins Purge at National Intelligence Office
Other
The Defense Department Is Posting QAnon Memes
Protest
A Charlottesville housing coalition rallies at City Hall over student-housing
Arrest
Virginia Beach woman Jessica Pinsky was charged with disorderly conduct for kicking a "Trump Train" pickup at a "No Kings" rally; the case is pending
Prosecution
Eleview International owner Oleg Nayandin and a senior employee, Vitaliy Borisenko, were sentenced for illegally exporting millions of dollars of U.S. technology to Russia through third countries
Documented cases
208 entries in the census — every one stays in the record, whether the case is open or closed.
David Annarelli
In Custody
David Annarelli is known both for his writing and advocacy from prison and for the violent incident that led t...
Kevin Johnson
In Custody
Kevin Rashid Johnson is best known for organizing and writing from prison, framing incarceration as a politica...
Nathan Vilas Laatsch
In Custody
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, a former Defense Intelligence Agency employee, was arrested on May 29, 2025 after giving...
Abu Agila Masud
In Custody
Abu Agila Masud is a retired Libyan Colonel who served as a senior operative in the Gaddafi regime. In 2022 he...
Thomas Weir Pauken II
In Custody
Thomas Weir Pauken II is an American writer and former employee of Chinese state media who used the pen name T...
Asif William Rahman
In Custody
Asif William Rahman is a former CIA analyst who disclosed classified intelligence concerning Israel’s preparat...
Arfat Sheikh
Released
Arfat Sheikh is a Kashmiri filmmaker whose work includes Saffron Kingdom. ICE arrested him at Washington Dulle...
Ali Al-Timimi
Released
Ali Al-Timimi was detained on July 8, 2005.
A spiritual leader and lecturer at Dar Al-Arqam, Ali Al-Timimi wa...
Abdelhaleem Ashqar
Released
Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar was a Howard University Professor and Palestinian activist who fled to the United State...
John Askew
John Askew was a Portsmouth defendant whose unconditional release at a fourth trial is recorded as an ILD defe...
Julian Assange
Awaiting Trial
Julian Assange was the editor of WikiLeaks, a website which publishes government documents sent to them by whi...
Steve Baggarly
Released
Steve Baggarly is a Catholic Worker at the Sadako Peace House in Norfolk, Virginia, and a participant in multi...
Kemp Walker Barber
Released
Kemp Walker Barber joined a March 11, 2024 Palestine-solidarity action that blocked Interstate 95 near Richmon...
Sabri Benkahla
Released
Sabri Benkahla was detained on July 23, 2007.
Connected to the Virginia jihad network, a group of men who pla...
Michael Billington
Released
Billington became prominent as a political organizer and fundraiser aligned with Lyndon LaRouche and the LaRou...
John Minor Botts
Released
John Minor Botts was a Virginia politician, lawyer, and former U.S. Congressman who became one of the most pro...
Ivan Brobeck
Released
Ivan Brobeck was a Marine who opposed returning to Iraq after serving there in 2004. He went to Canada, later...
Ali Asad Chandia
Released
Ali Asad Chandia was a third-grade teacher who provided material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was a driver f...
Amin Chaoui
Released
Amin Chaoui is an activist from Richmond, Virginia who was arrested on March 5, 2023 at the Atlanta Public Saf...
Jean Marshall Clarke
Released
Jean Marshall Clarke was the Virginia coordinator of the National Organization for Women. Capitol police arres...
George Crawford
George Crawford was a Black defendant whom Harry Haywood’s commentary in the Daily Worker of July 10, 1934, pa...
James Joseph Dresnok
In Exile
James Joseph Dresnok was a U.S. Army private first class stationed on the Korean demilitarized zone. Facing mi...
Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards
Released
Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards is a former senior adviser at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enfor...
Masai Ehehosi
Released
Masai Ehehosi was a Black Liberation Army member arrested after a January 25, 1975 shootout at a Norfolk, Virg...
Institutions in Virginia
Prisons, jails, and detention centers in Virginia that appear in the census’s case files.
Castle ThunderRichmond, Virginia
22 cases
Castle GodwinRichmond, Virginia
21 cases
Occoquan Workhouse
15 cases
Virginia State PenitentiaryRichmond, Virginia
12 cases
Occoquan Workhouse / DC JailLorton, Virginia
11 cases
Charles Town Jail (Jefferson County)Charles Town, Virginia
7 cases
FCI PetersburgHopewell, Virginia
6 cases
Federal Reformatory, PetersburgPetersburg, Virginia
3 cases