Funeral announcements announced for Virginia troopers

RICHMOND, Va. – Funeral arraignments have been announced for the two Virginia State Police troopers who died in a helicopter crash after monitoring a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville.

Virginia State Police said Tuesday that the funeral for Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates has been set for Friday at St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Richmond. The funeral for Lt. H. Jay Cullen, the helicopter’s pilot, is scheduled for Saturday at Southside Church of the Nazarene in Chesterfield County.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the helicopter was providing video to police of activities in downtown Charlottesville last Saturday before it broke off to lend support to a motorcade for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

There was no distress signal before it crashed, accident investigators said.