Tears and tributes at Virginia memorial for violence victim
charlottesville — With tears and tributes, hundreds of purpleclad residents packed an historic Charlottesville theatre to remember the 32-year-old woman killed when a suspected white nationalist crashed his car into anti-racist demonstrators.
Heather Heyer, a paralegal whom colleagues said was dedicated to social justice, was killed after clashes on Saturday between white nationalists attending a “Unite the Right” gathering and counter-protesters. James Fields, a 20-year-old Ohio man, has been charged with her murder.
“We are absolutely in awe at this outpouring of affection,” Elwood Shrader, Heyer’s grandfather, told the service at the city’s 1930s era Paramount Theater, near where she died. “She wanted respect for everybody. In our family, all lives matter.”
In the crowd were Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, US Senator Tim Kane and Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer. Many of those attending wore purple, Heyer’s favourite colour, at the request of her family.
The theatre’s marquee outside read: “Heather Heyer, gone but not forgotten.”
“I came here today and I was overwhelmed by the rainbow of colours in this room,” said Heyer’s father, Mark Heyer, his voice cracking with emotion. “That’s how Heather was ... for that, I am truly proud of my daughter.”
Fallout from Heyer’s death and the street fights among protesters has become President Donald Trump’s biggest domestic challenge. Trump was assailed from across the political spectrum over his initial response blaming “many sides” for the violence.
On Monday, the Republican president bowed to political pressure and denounced neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan by name, but on Tuesday he again inflamed tensions by insisting counter-protesters were also to blame. —