CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A day after tensions between police and community activists nearly boiled over on the University of Virginia’s campus, the city of Charlottesville plans to mark Sunday’s anniversary of a deadly gathering of white supremacists with a rally against racial hatred. But some 115 miles (185 kilometers) away in Washington, the principal organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” event will hold a “white civil rights rally,” and police are preparing for crowds of counterprotesters.
Jason Kessler, who abandoned his bid to stage a similar anniversary event in Charlottesville, said in his permit application that he expects 100 to 400 people to participate in his event Sunday afternoon in Lafayette Park, in front of the White House.
But that could be lower and likely will be dwarfed by counterprotests. Some leading figures in the U.S. white nationalist movement have said they won’t attend or have encouraged supporters to stay away.
The National Park Service also issued permits for events organized by DC United Against Hate, New York Black Lives Matter, and other groups. Government and police officials in Washington have expressed confidence the city can manage the events without violence; the mayor and police chief have promised a massive security mobilization to keep protesters and counter-protesters apart.
On Saturday evening on UVA’s campus, police had a brief, tense confrontation with students and other activists angry over a heavy security presence. They unfurled a banner reading “Last year they came w/ torches. This year they come w/ badge” and chanted “Why are you in riot gear? We don’t see no riot here.” More than 200 marched to another part of campus, where many shouted at a line of officers.
Last year, 22-year-old Clara Carlson faced down the group of white supremacists who marched through campus, surrounding her and a group of friends. On Saturday night, she was angry at the police response to the student rally.
“The university administration just let white supremacists roll through grounds with their torches, and for us, they’re afraid of us. They are afraid of us because we are demanding change from the university,” Carlson said.
The rest of the day had been much quieter, with some residents and businesses expressing that they felt calmer with the police presence in town.
Last year, on Aug. 12, hundreds of white nationalists — including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members — descended on Charlottesville in part to protest the city’s decision decided to remove a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park.
Violent fighting broke out between attendees and counterprotesters that day. Authorities eventually forced the crowd to disperse, but a car later barreled into a crowd of peaceful counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. A state police helicopter later crashed, killing two troopers.
Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, told The Associated Press that she has been dreading the anniversary of her daughter’s death for months. On Sunday morning, she plans to bring flowers to the spot where her daughter was killed.
Bro likened losing a child to standing in shallow water as waves roll continually in: “You let the wave wash over, and you don’t chase it. You let it go and you’re OK until the next one comes. But today, I feel like high tide is in.”
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For the complete AP coverage marking one year since the rally in Charlottesville, visit https://apnews.com/tag/CharlottesvilleAYearLater
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Associated Press writer Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
Dwarf White Supremacists…
Sounds like a bad garage band…
… and I first read your comment as “bad garbage band” …
… also fitting …
Naturally you have to be glad the protesters outnumber these clowns, because it would be pretty damned worrisome if they didn’t. But I wonder if standing across the street yelling at them is the best way to protest. It feels to me like going back and forth with a troll–it’s what they want, isn’t it? Outrage? I’d rather see them dismissed as losers and misfits terrified they can’t compete in an even slightly more equitable world than the Alabama of 1957. Let 273 of them stand in the park, pretty much ignored, and try to imagine they’re part of a huge and growing movement. That’s what I’d like to see. Obviously there are compelling arguments for protesting them, I get that. But I like to imagine another way, I guess, of showing them they’re on a very unproductive path.
Ideally, while the small herd of racists and Nazis grazes stupidly on the inner 4 acres of the oval walkway in Lafayette Park, they’re peacefully watched and cataloged (for future shunning) by surrounding crowds under the banner “Yes, We Will Replace You.”
ETA: Very nearly what actually happened, but it got even better. In the event, the racists turned out to be colossal snowflakes, to the point that they actually melted away after a few raindrops. Their supremacy was … what’s the opposite of supreme?
It’s a little jarring to see the word “leading” used in connection with the so-called “white nationalist movement.”
“Retreating” would appear to be le mot juste.