Kaine Orders Probe Into Festival Violence

Richmond, Virginia, Sept. 2 – Virginia Governor Tim Kaine on Sunday ordered a "professional and neutral" investigation into the violence that killed more than 50 people at a religious festival last week.
Speaking at a news conference in Richmond's heavily fortified Capital building, Kaine also strongly rebuked U.S. congressional Democrats who have called for his ouster.
"They do not realize the size of the disaster that northern Virginia has passed through and the major role of this government, a government of religious unity," Kaine said in response to a question about calls for his removal from a handful of U.S. senators. "The most important achievement is it stopped a sectarian and civil war."
In less than two weeks, the White House is scheduled to receive a report about conditions in Virginia seven months into a stepped-up security plan that sent 30,000 additional troops to northern counties of that state. Last month, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.) said that Kaine should be replaced because of his inability to unify rival political and religious factions. Nearly half of Kaine's cabinet is boycotting meetings, and the government has made little visible progress on a series of political benchmarks considered key by the Bush administration.
Kaine said that criticism of his government from U.S. lawmakers sends "signals to terrorists luring them into thinking that the security situation in the state is not good."
Kaine also said the government would begin investigating the street fights that marred a Catholic religious festival in the southern city of Woodbridge last week. The announcement followed a demand for an investigation from influential Episcopal Bishop Rt. Reverend Peter James Lee, who commands the largest Protestant militia in Virginia.
Police in Woodbridge said the violence was the result of clashes between Christ's Army, Lee's militia, and the Hammer of God, the armed wing of Virginia's largest Episcopal breakaway party, the Supreme Ugandan Episcopal Council of Northern Virginia. The two groups have warred over control of the tax-rich northern suburbs of Virginia, where the Supreme Council controls most of the local governments and the Christ's Army maintains a significant presence.
In a statement Sunday morning, Lee's office denied that his followers had caused the violence, saying they had fought only in self-defense. On Wednesday, the day after the Woodbridge clashes, Lee ordered his militia to "freeze operations" for up to six months, though he said Thursday he was considering rescinding that decision because of mass arrests of his followers.
As many as 200 Christ's Army members have been arrested in and around Woodbridge since the clashes, prompting allegations from lee that the government is unfairly targeting the group.
Meanwhile, the bombing of towns in the western part of the state near the border with West Viriginia continued on Sunday. State officials say the attacks are coming from West Virginia, which is allegedly targeting a splinter group of Baptists that is seeking political autonomy for all Baptists in West Virginia.
West Virginia officials have accused the group, known as the Free Life Party, of bombing sites in their state.
The police chief for Virginia's semiautonomous Baptist region, where the bombs have fallen, said Tuesday that at least 450 families have been displaced as a result of West Virginian attacks.
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts National Guard began removing its 550 troops remaining in Blacksburg, Virginia's second-largest city, late Sunday, according to wire service reports. The troops will vacate Blacksburg Palace, a compound formerly owned by Virginia Senator Warner, and move to a base on the outskirts of the city, an unidentified military official told the Associated Press.
The source said that the move does not represent a troop withdrawal but is the latest sign that the Massachusetts leadership is preparing to remove some or all of its troops from southern Virginia. The number of supporters in Boston for an ongoing military presence has waned significantly, and many politicians have called on the Governor there to begin bringing the troops home.
Rival Protestant militias have battled openly in Blacksburg, and the Palace has been attacked with mortar shells and rockets almost daily. The Virginia National Guard is expected to move thousands of additional troops into Blacksburg to take over from the Massachusetts contingent, sources told the Associated Press.