In the post-mortem of the July 8 KKK rally in Justice Park that resulted in 22 arrests and riot-garbed Virginia State Police tear-gassing protesters, widely diverging accounts of the event are playing out like a Kurosawa film. Police Chief Al Thomas says his force has gotten “hundreds and hundreds of compliments” for how city police […]
City Council’s first meeting after the July 8 KKK rally had 57 people wanting to voice their concerns about police use of force and tear-gassing protesters. Legal organizations asked for investigations and multiple citizens wanted the permit for Jason Kessler’s August 12 Unite the Right revoked. At times the July 17 meeting was like a […]
After several weeks of prodding by a UVA researcher, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society produced two of the 26 Ku Klux Klan robes in its collection, but its president refused to reveal which of the city’s citizens wore those robes in the 1920s. The yellowed robes were stretched out in the exhibit hall of […]
The demonstration at Justice Park July 8 was nothing if not well-documented. Here are some images photographer Eze Amos captured that day. [slideshow_deploy id=’98983′]
Charlottesvillians pulled out the unwelcome mat for the Loyal White Knights of the KKK July 8 in Justice Park. An estimated 1,000 people surrounded the park before the arrival of the 50 or so out-of-town Klansmen, and the event was loud, but aside from the arrests of protesters who refused to move, without incident. It […]
For more than a week, Thomas Jefferson’s home has reverted back to a time when it didn’t have online ticketing and phone service. And despite the ransomware hack that hijacked its computer and phone systems, the 18th century estate has soldiered on during one of its busiest weeks of the year, when people throng to […]
At the same time Charlottesville has faced controversy over its decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, the University of Virginia has approved a memorial—with nary a peep of protest—to the enslaved workers who built and maintained the school. “I don’t think it’s coincidental,” says Frank Dukes, a member of the […]
A couple of weeks ago at a community meeting, Chief Al Thomas said he wasn’t worried about handling the KKK at its July 8 rally. What concerned him more were local citizens making “poor choices.” Now some are wondering if local police made poor choices in showing up at activists’ homes and asking about their […]
The heavily watched June 13 primary in Virginia offered several surprises, most notably record-setting Democratic turnout and Corey Stewart’s near upset of Ed Gillespie in the GOP gubernatorial race. Conversely, hometown favorite Tom Perriello’s race against Ralph Northam for governor was expected to be much closer than Northam’s 12-point win. And in city Democratic primary […]
Joe Draego was in court today for a charge that he assaulted Showing Up for Racial Justice activist Sara Tansey when he retrieved a phone she allegedly snatched from white-protest organizer Jason Kessler back in February. The hearing in court was pretty routine, but afterward, Draego accused Tansey’s lawyer—commonwealth’s attorney candidate Jeff Fogel—of not acting “in […]