To the Fairfax County Community,

What we saw yesterday at the US Capitol, will forever be a dark day in American history. It was an act of violence, terror, and frankly, an attempted coup.

I turned on the news with my 8-year-old in the room, unsure of what to tell him. At his age, I wasn't ready for him to see the same cynicism that many see in our government. Like many, I'm angry, sad, and feel as though I am unable to capture the right words and emotions.

If you missed my statement last night, we deployed members of our police department and opened our emergency operations center to Virginia State Police. I was relieved to hear that they were safe and I am grateful for their work. We will continue to be in contact with my colleagues across the region in the coming weeks.

I assure you, we will not let fear and violence stand in the way of a peaceful transition of power in a democratically sound election. As uncertain as things feel right now, I know we will move past this and hopefully learn from this. And in Fairfax County, we will to continue to embrace our values and welcome our diversity and continue to build trust in our community. The long road forged by 2020 might have gotten a little longer, but no matter what, we will get through this because that is who we are.

See below for the full January 7 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.