The local Charlottesville news group Daily Progress was on the scene as a large crowd of people began to emerge and gather in Justice Park. It was a hot Virginal day on the 8th of July and the crowd was there to counter-protest the 50 white supremacist members of the Ku Klux Klan’s Loyal White Knights who had planned their protest at 3:45 PM against the removal of Confederate statues. The march was highly publicized and the mayor tried to discourage people from “taking the [KKK] bait.” But hundreds of counter-protestors, opted to line up and rally against the smaller group of Klansmen who had been escorted by the police for protection and to support the First Amendment. The march only lasted 45 minutes, but as the Klansmen were leaving anger on both sides began to escalate.
Here is a video from @DailyProgress on Twitter:
The gathering was deemed “unlawful” towards the end of the event and closer to two-dozen were arrested. No serious injuries have been reported. ThCNN reports:
Members of the North Carolina-based Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan—some wearing Klan robes and carrying Confederate flags—arrived in midday to protest the city’s plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park, one of several steps the city is taking to reduce its number of Confederate monuments.
Twenty-three people were arrested. It was not clear what they were charged with or whether those arrested were Klan supporters, counterprotesters or some from each group.
The city and the University of Virginia had urged people not to go to the Klan rally, even if they opposed the Klan, but to attend alternative events, such as a unity concert at a school. The local chapter of the NAACP also organized a counter-rally.
The counter-protesters persisted.
Lacy MacAuley (@lacymaccauley) tweeted from the scene: Here is her clip:
Below is a Twitter clip by Lauren Berg (@laurenbergk)
The KKK carried their normal hate-filled swag.
As some [Klansmen] raised their arms in Nazi salutes and others let out a chant of “white power,” the Klan group was met with a chorus of dissent from the crowd, who called for them to be removed from the park and the city. The Klan’s rebuttals were often drowned out by the protesters, with some using whistles and noisemakers to quell the Klan’s cries.
NPR reports the KKK is very much alive in America.
There are about 3,000 active “Klan members and unaffiliated individuals who identify with Klan ideology,” according to a June report from the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL says 42 Klan groups are currently active in 33 states, though most groups have fewer than 25 members. The report adds that many Klan groups have recently joined forces with other white supremacists, including neo-Nazis.
Cheers to the Charlottesville Resistance who showed up to speak out against racism, hatred and violence. It’s a shame that there were arrests and some on both sides became less than peaceful—but a great relief to know it didn’t end up in tragedy and a strong message was sent out to the country and world: Americans will not remain silent in the face of extremism, some of which has been brought about and/or escalated by a hateful, racist and extremist president.
UPDATE: Sunday, Jul 9, 2017 · 9:46:50 PM +00:00 · Leslie Salzillo
According to WRIC.com, a City Spokeswomen Miriam Dicker said the number of counter-protesters reached about 1,000. Three were taken to the hospital for heat-related problems and one for alcoholism.