User:Aishaac/Charlottesville riot

= Charlottesville Riot = The Charlottesville riots, also known as the Unite the Right rally or Charlottesville rally, was a white supremacist rally that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Organizers of the rally were Jason Kessler and Richard Spencer, who were named to be leaders of far-right white nationalists. The two men led their group as they marched in a torchlight procession — a symbolic gathering meant to evoke similar marches of Hitler Youth and other ultra-right nationalist organizations of the past century. It seemed that rally leaders wanted a great deal of publicity and public awareness as leader, Richard Spencer texted reporters telling them where he would be and what time they should have their microphones and cameras ready. “I’d be near campus tonight, if I were you,” he wrote. “After 9 p.m. Nameless field.”

The rumor was true. The torchlight parade was on. It would prove to be the catalyst for a horrific 24 hours in this usually quiet college town that would come to be seen by the nation and world as a day of racial rage, hate, violence and death. When it was over, questions about how this could happen centered on three groups: a meticulously organized, well coordinated and heavily armed company of white nationalists; a fiercely resistant and determined group of counter-protesters prepared to stop the Saturday rally; and state and local authorities who seemed caught off guard by the boldness and persistence of both groups. By 8:45 p.m. Friday, a column of about 250 mostly young white males, many wearing khaki pants and white polo shirts, began to stretch across the shadowy Nameless Field, a large expanse of grass behind Memorial Gymnasium at the University of Virginia. Their torches, filled with kerosene by workers at a nearby table, were still dark.

“Stay in formation!” barked an organizer carrying a bullhorn. “Two by two! Two by two!”

Within minutes, marchers lit their torches. Additional organizers, wearing earpieces and carrying radios, ran up and down the line shouting directions.

“Now! Now! Go!”

The marchers took off at a brisk pace and immediately began yelling slogans: “Blood and soil!” “You will not replace us!” “Jews will not replace us!” The chants echoed as the group marched past the iconic halls of the university founded by Thomas Jefferson, paraded down the middle of the hallowed Lawn, climbed to the rotunda and converged on a statue of Jefferson himself. There they met their enemy. A group of about 30 U-Va. students — students of color and white students — had locked arms around the base of the statue to face down the hundreds of torchbearers. The marchers circled the statue. Some made monkey noises at the black counter-protesters. Then they began chanting, “White lives matter!”

Within moments, there was chaos. Shoves. Punches. Both groups sprayed chemical irritants. Many marchers threw their torches toward the statue and the students.

Other than one university police officer, there was no sign of law enforcement along the march, and it was several minutes before police intervened. Both sides suffered injuries. They relied mostly on their cohorts for treatment until emergency personnel arrived. The next day would be much worse. The rally on Saturday was scheduled to go from noon to 5 p.m., but by 8 a.m., the park was already beginning to fill. Rallygoers arrived in contingents, waving nationalist banners and chanting slogans. Many carried shields and clubs. A large number also carried pistols or long guns. Counter-protesters had also gathered early. Members of anti-fascist groups yelled at the rallygoers. Many of them also carried sticks and shields. They were joined by local residents, members of church groups, civil rights leaders and onlookers. In downtown Charlottesville, most stores and restaurants closed for the day. At 9:30 a.m., about 30 clergy members clasped arms and began singing “This Little Light of Mine.” Twenty feet away, the white nationalists roared back, “Our blood, our soil!”