Monique Miles, one of Virginia’s Deputy Attorney Generals, resigned on Thursday after it came to light that she had praised the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, on social media.

Miles, who was serving under the newly appointed Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, tendered her resignation after the Virginia Attorney General’s office was made aware of her comments by The Washington Post, which shared screenshots of Miles’ earlier Facebook comments on the January 6 riots. The Post was also the first to report Miles’ resignation.

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Announcing Miles’ resignation, Victoria LaCivita, a spokesperson for the Virginia Attorney General’s office, released a statement, saying, “This information was unknown to the Office of the Attorney General prior to this morning. Ms Miles has resigned from her position at the Office of the Attorney General.”

“The Attorney General has been very clear – Joe Biden won the election and he has condemned the January 6th attack,” LaCivita added, clarifying Miyares’ stance on the issue.

According to The Washington Post, Miles used her personal account to post comments on the January 6 riots.

In one post on November 16, 2020, prior to the riots, she claimed that former President Donald Trump would be re-elected, and wrote, “These left wing violent loonies better realize that DJT [Donald J Trump] is getting a second term,” as per screenshots shared by The Washington Post.

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On the day of the riots in January 2021, Miles had written, “News flash: Patriots have stormed the Capitol. No surprise The deep state has awoken the sleeping giant. Patriots are not taking this lying down. We are awake, ready and will fight for our rights by any means necessary.”

Although Miles resigned in light of the revelations made by The Washington Post, she has also responded to the allegations.

In an email to The Post, Miles suggested that her comments were being taken out of context by the publication and accused it of having its “daggers out for black conservative females.”

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“The posts were made at a time when the news was still developing re: the facts around the election, the court cases, the Rally on the Ellipse and what happened at the capitol. That was before all the audits occurred. These posts have been taken out of context,” Miles wrote in her email.

“What we know now about the election today is very different from what we knew on Election Day 2020 or even what we knew on the day that President Biden was inaugurated in January 2021. I believe he is our president as he was certified as such,” she added, clarifying her position on Joe Biden’s presidency.

The January 6 riots are believed to have been precipitated by inflammatory comments about election fraud by former President Trump. Rioters disrupted the confirmation of Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election by a joint session of the Congress and vandalised the US Capitol. Five people died by the time the riots had been brought under control.