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Tag: purcellville

  • Loudoun Co. man accused of threatening Virginia state delegate’s life – WTOP News

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    A man has been charged with threatening to kill state Del. Geary Higgins, who represents parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

    A Purcellville, Virginia, man has been charged with threatening to kill state Del. Geary Higgins.

    Higgins, a Republican, represents Virginia’s 30th House District in the General Assembly, which covers parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties.

    Patrick Daniel Murphy is charged with threatening to kill Geary via text message.

    Fauquier Now first reported that, according to Higgins’ office, the Aug. 26 message read, “F— off Geary. I will shoot u @ yer next public rally. Then send you memes with the photos. I know where your f—in kids are too.”

    In an arrest warrant obtained by WTOP, Murphy received a text message by Higgins’ campaign “about a political topic,” to which he responded with the threat to shoot Higgins and his family members.

    “Let me be clear: threats of violence have no place in our political discourse. I will not be intimidated, silenced, or deterred from doing the job I was elected to do — fighting for my constituents in Western Loudoun and Fauquier, and standing up for common sense,” Higgins said in a statement.

    Murphy was charged with a threat in writing, a Class 6 felony which is punishable of up to five years in prison.

    “Unfortunately, this is the direct result of the nasty lies and constant demonization from the radical left that we’ve seen over the last few years. Abigail Spanberger is telling her supporters to ‘let their rage fuel them,’ and my opponent is up on TV right now calling me a crook and a treasonist, and blatantly lying about my record,” Higgins said in a statement. “The last two sessions in Richmond we’ve been called every name under the sun.”

    Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin added in a post on social media, “Two Republican Delegates received death threats just this past week. It must stop. Enough.” He was referring to Virginia state Del. Kim Taylor, of Petersburg, who received a death threat over text on Thursday.

    Higgins is facing a challenge from Democrat John McAuliff in November’s election.

    The threat came not long after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in Utah.

    Murphy is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 20.

    WTOP’s Jimmy Alexander contributed to this report.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Ciara Wells

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  • Virginia liberal arts Christian school shines among nation’s best in US News ranking – WTOP News

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    The US News & World Report ranking of the best schools in the country came out this week, and listed for the second year in a row was a small liberal arts Christian School in Purcellville called Patrick Henry College.

    Empty classroom with no students(Getty Images/GlobalStock)

    The US News & World Report ranking of the best schools in the country came out this week, and listed for the second year in a row was a small liberal arts Christian school in Purcellville called Patrick Henry College.

    Situated right off Leesburg Pike, the college, founded in 2000, was ranked 107 overall in the nation, up a stunning 29 points from its first appearance on the list last year.

    “We have some of the highest LSAT (Law School Admission Test) scores in the nation for kids entering law school,” said Patrick Henry spokesman Tom Ziemnick. “And that includes the Ivy League.”

    Ziemnick said the law school’s moot court programs are considered the best in the nation, recently defeating Yale to claim its 14th win in the National Moot Court Championship, hosted by the American Moot Court Association.

    “We’re sort of this best kept secret —— an Alabama or Ohio State for football —— we are that for moot court,” Ziemnick said. “No other college in the nation has more than two national championships.”

    “So, it’s funny, in our gym, our banners aren’t for basketball, they’re for moot court national championships,” Ziemnick said.

    Patrick Henry College is a private liberal arts school. The campus sits on 119 acres in Purcellville and has 425 undergraduate students.

    Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland at College Park still rank in the top 50 best national universities for the 2026 Best Colleges standings, which were released Tuesday.

    Hopkins remained in the top 10, coming in at No. 7 in a four-way tie, down one slot from 2025, while Georgetown remained at No. 24, the same as last year.

    Nationally, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University came in first, second and third, respectively, in the overall National Universities category, just like last year.

    The University of Maryland, College Park, rose two to No. 42 in a tie with the University of Washington, while the University of Virginia dropped two slots, coming in at No. 26 in the National Universities category.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Alan Etter

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