Gallery: Images from a reconvened session like no other as lawmakers return to Richmond

By: Robert Zullo - April 22, 2020 10:24 pm

Del. Ken Plum, D-Fairfax, wore a small Virginia state flag as a mask during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown)

Lawmakers were back in Richmond Wednesday for the reconvened, or veto, session, when they act on gubernatorial vetoes and amendments. But, given the pandemic, it was one like no other, drawing right wing protesters opposed to Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order and other social distancing restrictions.

To keep be able to keep their own distance from each other, the House met in a tent on the Capitol grounds, beset by blaring horns from the drive-by protesters and technical difficulties. The Senate met in a space commandeered from the Science Museum of Virginia across town.

“Please do not take the hand sanitizer home,” Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar told senators as they adjourned just after 10 p.m.

Here are some images from an extraordinary day in Richmond.

: Del. Matt Fariss, R-Campbell, smiles over a mask during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL, Bob Brown).

: Assistant House Clerk Jay Braxton handed out sun screen, gloves and hand sanitizer during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown).

: Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, sets up his computer during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown).

: House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, gavels the historic veto session to order in a tent outside the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown)

: House of Delegates members raise their hands to vote after a voting board malfunction during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL, Bob Brown).

: Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, herself a victim of the COVID-19 virus, was at her desk during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown).

: Access was shut down to Capitol Square during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown).

: Del. Ken Plum, D-Fairfax, wore a small Virginia state flag as a mask during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. AP Photo/POOL/Bob Brown)

: House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, sits on the floor behind the Speaker’s lecturn after passing out during the veto session at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The House members were meeting outside in a tent instead of the House Chamber in order to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 virus. (AP Photo/POOL,Bob Brown)

: Counter-protesters representing healthcare workers walk along Broad Street near the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce for the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters wave signs and honk their horns near the Virginia State Capitol, during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce for the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters wave signs and honk their horns near the Virginia State Capitol, during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce/ For the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters wave signs and honk their horns near the Virginia State Capitol, during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce / For the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters argue with a counter-demonstrator during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce / For the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters wave signs and honk their horns near the Virginia State Capitol, during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce/ For the Virginia Mercury)

: Counter-protesters representing healthcare workers speak with media at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce/ for the Virginia Mercury)

: The House of Delegates meets in a large tent on the capitol grounds in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce/ For the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters dressed as traffic cones walk toward the Virginia State Capitol during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce/ For the Virginia Mercury)

: Protesters wave signs and honk their horns near the Virginia State Capitol, during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce / For the Virginia Mercury)

: A masked protester near the Virginia State Capitol during a “Reopen Virginia Rally” in Richmond, Va., April 22, 2020. (Parker Michels-Boyce/ For the Virginia Mercury)

: Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, gavels the reconvene session to order at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

: Virginia State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, right, talks with Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, sitting in a protective enclosure as they prepare for the reconvened session at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. Barker underwent recent surgery. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

: Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, top, presides over the reconvened session to order at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

: Virginia State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, right, records a vote during the reconvene session to order at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

: Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, works with assistant clerk, Tara Perkinson, right, as they prepare for the reconvene session at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

: Virginia Senate staff, Bladen Finch, right, and Melanie Newby, left, sanitize a desk as they prepare for the reconvene session at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

: Virginia Senate Clerk, Susan Schaar, ties a mask on Virginia State Senator Thomas Norment, R-James City County, as they prepare for the reconvene session at the Science Museum of Virginia Wednesday April 22, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Senate is meeting in a remote location due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. (AP Photo/POOL/Steve Helber)

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Robert Zullo

Robert spent 13 years as a reporter and editor at weekly and daily newspapers and was previously editor of the Virginia Mercury. He was a staff writer and managing editor at Worrall Community Newspapers in Union, N.J., before spending five years in south Louisiana covering hurricanes, oil spills and Good Friday crawfish boils as a reporter and city editor for the The Courier and the Daily Comet newspapers in Houma and Thibodaux. He covered Richmond city hall for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 2012 to 2013 and worked as a general assignment and city hall reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2013 to 2016. He returned to Richmond in 2016 to cover energy, environment and transportation for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Contact him at [email protected]