Richmond School Board Representative Emmett Jafari (8th District) owes his former election opponent Patrick Henry “Cruz” Sherman $100 in compensatory damages for a disparaging Facebook post Jafari made during the 2024 election season. Jafari described Sherman as an ex-felon – a “One-Man Crimewave” – with “an evasive and elusive history,” before coming to Virginia from Tennessee in 1995. The courts had already made a default judgment ruling that Jafari defamed Sherman, which Jafari objected to. In Jafari’s post, he said Sherman is known as “Cruz,” “back in his hometown gang circles.” A week after Jafari’s post, in the November 2024 election, Jafari narrowly defeated Sherman, winning with a 52% majority to Sherman’s 47% of the vote.