DON’T LET NAZIS WIN
Mom’s emotional plea at rites for hero activist mowed down by racist
SUSAN BRO, proudly recalling her endlessly opinionated daughter, warned the alt-right that death would not silence a force like Heather Heyer.
In a rousing eulogy that twice brought mourners to their feet, Bro urged people across the nation to fearlessly echo her martyred daughter’s calls for justice and equality.
“They tried to kill my child to shut her up,” Bro declared during an emotional Wednesday memorial service. “Well, guess what? You magnified her . . . . I don’t want this to die.
“This is just the beginning of Heather’s legacy. This is not the end of Heather’s legacy. You need to find in your heart that small spark of accountability. What is there that I can do to make the world a better place?”
Bro spoke before a capacity crowd in the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Va., where the 32-year-old Heyer was run down and killed Saturday by a Dodge Challenger with a neo-Nazi at the wheel.
The service drew a multicultural crowd of roughly 1,600 mourners, and was defined by only one color: purple, the dead woman’s favorite shade, worn in tribute by many in the audience.
Both her mom and her dad donned purple shirts before speaking about the still-shocking news that their daughter died while protesting against the Nazi sympathizers, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members invading her town.
Bro, in her closing comments, urged the mourners to channel their anger and frustration into something positive.
“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention,” she warned the crowd, quoting from her daughter’s oft-shared Facebook post. “And I want you to pay attention, find what’s wrong . . . and say to yourself, ‘What can I do to make a difference?’
“And that’s how you’re going to make my child’s death worthwhile,” Bro continued. “I’d rather have my child. But by golly, if I have to give her up, we’re going to make it count.”
The crowd rose to its feet in cheers as Bro walked slowly back to her seat in the front row of the building. A photo of her daughter served as a backdrop on the large screen behind her.
Earlier, Heather’s dad, Mark Heyer, fought back tears as he remembered his daughter.
“I came here today and I was overwhelmed at the rainbow of colors in this room,” said the emotional father, choking up at times.
“That’s how Heather was . . . if she loved you, that was it. You were stuck. For that, I’m truly proud of my daughter.”
The memorial program featured the initials “HH” inside a purple heart honoring “Heather Danielle Heyer 5/29/85-8/12/17.”
In the days since her death last Saturday, Heyer recalled hearing stories about his beloved daughter.
“As I listened to her friends, and heard stories of my daughter and the way she was — she loved people,” Mark Heyer said.
“She wanted equality. And on this issue, on the day of her passing, she wanted to put down hate. And for my part, we just need to stop all this stuff and just forgive one another.”
The stage was flanked with two floral arrangements, and two large photos of Heather stood on easels.
The theater was filled to capacity with more than 1,000 people, and another 500 watched the service in an overflow room.
Among those in the audience at the memorial were survivors of the attack that killed Heyer, along with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). “The family is humbled and deeply grateful,” family friend Cathy Brinkley said in welcoming the mourners.
A threatened disruption of the event by white supremacists never materialized.
The service was preceded by a slide show honoring Heyer as mourners began entering the theater. Heather’s grandfather Elwood Shrader was the first relative to speak.
“She showed her passion at an early age,” recalled Shrader. “She had many questions. She loved life. You never knew what was coming next. She wanted respect for everyone.
“In our family, all lives matter.”
Heyer was a native Virginian and a Charlottesville resident, working as a legal assistant for a
local law firm.
President Trump, one day after offering a bizarre defense of the white supremacists as a group including “very fine people,” tweeted a message of condolence for Heyer.
“Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a truly special young woman,” wrote Trump. “She will be long remembered by all!”
The President did not attend the memorial service. And the White House declined to say Wednesday whether Trump, as he indicated he would, had actually contacted the Heyer family.
Toward the end of the memorial, one of the mourners in the balcony angrily shouted “Don’t let Trump . . .” before she was interrupted by others in the crowd.
“Please be respectful of my daughter,” said Susan Bro. “I know you want to deliver a message. Carry on outside of here. Thank you.”
A police officer escorted the woman out of the service without incident.
James Fields, 20, charged with second-degree murder for running down Heyer, remained jailed Wednesday. The suspect was described as obsessed with Adolf Hitler and aligned politically with the neo-Nazi movement.
Video captured Fields throwing the car in reverse and slamming into more people as bodies went flying. Nineteen people were injured.
Including Fields, five people have been arrested in the weekend mayhem, which began Friday night at the University of Virginia with white nationalists carrying torches and chanting that “Jews will not replace us!”
Late Wednesday, the campus was bathed in a much different light as hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil against hate.
Police are still looking for the men who savagely beat Deandre Harris, a 20-year-old black man from Charlottesville, in a parking garage Saturday night.