§ 18.2-405 What constitutes a riot; punishment
Any unlawful use, by three or more persons acting together, of force or violence which seriously jeopardizes the public safety, peace or order is riot. Every person convicted of participating in any riot shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If such person carried, at the time of such riot, any firearm or other deadly or dangerous weapon, he shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony.
History
The record of this law’s original creation isn’t available online. The oldest record of it is its appearance in the Code of Virginia of 1950, as §§ 18.1-254.1 and 18.1-254.2. It has been modified 3 times. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1968, chapter 460; in 1971, chapter 251 of the Extra Session; in 1975, chapters 14 and 15.
Code 1950, §§ 18.1-254.1, 18.1-254.2; 1968, c. 460; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 251; 1975, cc. 14, 15.