Frustration at Charlottesville town hall

Emotions pour forth as residents seek answers

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Charlottesville residents told city leaders at an emotional community meeting Sunday they were traumatized by a white nationalist rally and dissatisfied with the way officials handled the event and the violence that unfolded.

Hundreds of people attended the “community recovery town hall” Sunday at a performing arts center. For more than three hours, they discussed how the events of Aug. 12 had left them fearful, depressed and worried for their children. They accused the police and city officials of failing to protect them. Some called for resignations.

“I’m going to ask the chief, the city manager, the mayor: Is this the best you can do?” said Charlottesville resident Jim Baker. “The city is crying out for leadership. You can hear that cry ringing through the pained responses of everybody in this room. And you are coming up weak,” he said to loud applause from the crowd.

The meeting comes just over two weeks after the rally, which was initially sparked by the city council’s decision earlier this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park. Hundreds of white nationalists descended on Charlottesville in what’s believed to be the largest gathering of them in at least a decade.

Many came heavily armed and clashed violently in the streets with counterprotesters. After authorities forced the crowd to disperse, a car plowed into a group of counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring many more. The death toll for the day rose to three when two state troopers sent to monitor the scene and support the