Charlottesville residents chastise leadership
Officials, police under fire at council meeting
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The sharp divisions between Charlottesville residents and their elected leaders and police were on display Monday at a tense, raucous City Council meeting, the first since the release of a scathing report on officials’ response to a white nationalist rally this summer.
Former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy formally presented the findings of his monthslong review to the council after releasing a report publicly Friday. His investigation found a lack of planning, poor communication and a passive response by law enforcement to the chaos that unfolded at the Aug. 12 “Unite the Right” rally, believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in at least a decade.
The report found those failures had led to “deep distrust of government” in the Charlottesville community, and many residents made that clear Monday night.
During Heaphy’s presentation, the audience listened quietly for the most part, letting out exasperated groans, sighs and gasps from time to time as he laid out his findings. His presentation included photos, screenshots of police officer body camera footage and maps of the police action plans.
The room grew more chaotic when the council opened a public comment period.
Some speakers shouted at the councilors; others, at the police posted in the room.
“Will you apologize to the people of Charlottesville?” Tanesha Hudson asked Mayor Mike Signer.
One speaker said the whole council should resign.
Charlottesville became a target for white nationalists after the council voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park. After several smaller rallies, hundreds of white nationalists and counterprotesters converged downtown Aug. 12.
Heaphy’s investigation — which involved about 150 interviews and a review of photos, video and more than half a million documents — said neither free speech nor public safety was protected that day.