Confederate Monuments are coming down across the country in response to the demonstrations that turned violent in Charlottesville on August 12. The timing and phrasing of President Donald J. Trump’s remarks also caused controversy throughout the country.
That day, white nationalist groups participated in a “Unite the Right” rally in protest against the planned removal of a General Robert E. Lee statue at Emancipation Park. The night before, groups marched on the University of Virginia shouting Nazi slogans and carrying torches.
There were also groups of counter protesters who obtained permits for several nearby locations. Antifa was among the groups, which is short for anti-fascist.
One of the group’s missions was to drown out and confront the other groups, while carrying signs and shouting their own beliefs. Tensions rose between the two groups as the day went on.
At approximately 1:45 p.m. a truck driven by one of the white nationalists ran into Antifa members as well as hitting a parked car, causing 19 injuries and killing Heather Heyer. Heyer was a 32-year-old paralegal who was a strong advocate for equality and justice.
James Fields is the suspected driver of the vehicle. Fields is an alleged member of Vanguard America although the organization denied any connection to Fields.
Fields is believed to hold white supremacist beliefs according to Derek Weimer, Field’s high school history teacher.
Two state troopers were also killed that day, Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Berke M. M. Bates. They were in a helicopter monitoring the events when it fell and burst into flames.
The driver of truck is from Maumee Ohio, a city close to Toledo. After hitting the protestors, Fields fled the scene but was later arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit-and-run without bail.
Later on August 12, President Trump’s made this statement on Twitter.
“We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!”
Members of the news media criticized Trump’s comments as not being critical enough of the Neo-Nazi group, because they were never mentioned by name.
His statement and timing may also have alienated many business leaders, as the CEOs of Intel and Under Armour stepped down from presidential advisory councils.
Kenneth C. Frazier, the head of Merck Pharmaceuticals was the first to leave the council on the fourteenth. By the next day six business leaders had left the council.
Also on the fourteenth, Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon sent employees a memo criticizing Trump’s statements.
“As we watched the events and the response from President Trump over the weekend, we too felt that he missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivalently rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists,” the address read.
The next day, Trump gave his thoughts on these business leaders at a news conference at Trump Tower, saying that they weren’t taking their jobs seriously and were leaving out of embarrassment.
Trump then doubled down on the fifteenth and blamed both sides for the violence that occurred.
“You had a group on one side that was bad,” Trump said. “You had a group on the other side that was very violent. Nobody wants to say that. I’ll say it right now.”
The reverberations of the violence are still present with Twitter users identifying protestors and more polarizing comments being made by Trump.
A GoFundMe page was created for the family of Heyer, raising a total of $224,870.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor