HUNDREDS JOIN CHARLOTTESVILLE MEMORIAL TO PROTEST RACISM
VIRGINIA— Hundreds of students and activists took to the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, to mark the anniversary of last year’s protests that underscored racism in the United States.
The protesters’ criticisms of both police and the University of Virginia (UVA) underscored the resentment that still exists a year after torch-bearing neoNazis marched through campus, shouting anti-Semitic messages and beating counterprotesters.
Deep resentment
Several students said they were angry that the police response was far larger this year compared with last year, when racists carrying tiki torches went mostly unchecked.
Police rode bicycles ahead of the march to stop traffic, apparently to prevent another car attack similar to one last year that killed one woman and hurt 35 others.
The newly installed president of UVA, James Ryan, apologized for the school’s inaction last year while speaking at an event to memorialize the anniversary.
Saturday’s march capped a day of hope, grief, anger and remembrance in Charlottesville, one year after the rightist rally brought racially charged street violence to the college town.
Relatively quiet
With hundreds of police maintaining a tight security perimeter around a 15-block downtown area, Charlottesville’s normally bustling business district was relatively quiet on Saturday.
The massive police response was not welcomed by everyone, including some residents and business owners who complained that the restrictions were an overreaction.
Authorities arrested three men for minor offenses, including a 64- year- old disabled man who challenged police prohibitions on certain items in the secured area.
The man, John Miska, who was wearing a handgun in a shoulder holster, visited a drugstore and purchased razor blades, which qualified as contraband under the city’s emergency declaration.
The gun, however, was not banned, based on state law and when he refused an officer’s re- quest to take the razors to his car, he was arrested for disorderly conduct.
A group of antifascist protesters marched in the afternoon, carrying signs with messages like “Good Night White Pride.”
Remembering Heather
They stopped to pay their respects at the corner where a local woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when an Ohio man drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters following last year’s rally.
While some businesses closed for the weekend, many merchants remained open in a show of solidarity.
“It’s my town, and I’m not afraid,” said Karen Walker, whose floral shop Hedge was open on Saturday with a bucket of freshly cut flowers available for passersby to take for free.
Kathe Falzer, 67, changed a flight to California so she could spend Saturday in town.
“I felt the need to be here and support the businesses,” Falzer said as she ate lunch at a diner on Main Street.