‘Just evil:’ Men sentenced in August 12 parking garage beating

The two young men handed lengthy prison sentences last week for their involvement in the August 12, 2017, brutal parking garage beating of DeAndre Harris sat in stark contrast to one another in Charlottesville Circuit Court. One’s remorse was hard to miss. Jacob Goodwin, the Arkansas man who can be seen in videos wearing full […]

The fear, the fight, the future: The threat of gun violence is a new reality for today’s students

The lights were off and the door was locked in Shreya Mahadevan’s fourth-grade classroom at Johnson Elementary School. Small bodies huddled quietly behind a wall of backpacks—their teacher in tears. “It was really scary. Petrifying,” says the 9-year-old girl about the lockdown her school was under last October, when a man in nearby Johnson Village […]

Shooter sentenced: KKK imperial wizard gets four years

  At the first felony sentencing from last year’s violent Unite the Right rally, a judge on August 21 ordered a Maryland Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan leader to serve four years in prison for firing a gun at flamethrower-wielding Corey Long after an unlawful assembly had been declared. Richard Wilson Preston, […]

Anti-racists instruct

During the week leading up to the August 11 and 12 anniversary, local anti-racist groups hosted a series of events, including panels on their use of in-your-face tactics and why they believe the First Amendment should not apply to white supremacists. Protesters up the ante UVA religious studies professor Jalane Schmidt opened the August 7 […]

Unlawful assembly: Cops call for one, change their mind at UVA

Police called unlawful assemblies last summer after the KKK rally and before the Unite the Right event began. This summer, it appeared Charlottesville had gotten through the August 12 anniversary weekend without the declaring of any unlawful assemblies—but that wasn’t the case. At the August 11 UVA rally—after students had moved their protest to Brooks […]

Malice factor: Judge denies Huguely habeas petition

Just days before UVA graduation in 2010, Charlottesville—and the Washington, D.C., area—reeled with the news that fourth-year lacrosse player Yeardley Love was found dead in her apartment and her former boyfriend, George Huguely, had been charged with first-degree murder. After a two-week jury trial in 2012, Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to […]

Out and in: A turnover of top local leaders

It was an unprecedented year for the city, but also one in which we saw a major shift among people in positions of power. Some heads rolled, some quietly retired, and the list of local leaders is almost unrecognizable from this time last summer. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas abruptly resigned in December, making way […]

The final first: Heather Heyer’s mother channels her grief

The first anniversary of a loved one’s death is always difficult. On August 12, Susan Bro took flowers to Fourth Street, where her daughter was murdered. “It’s tough,” she says. “This is the last of the firsts. After this, it’s all a repeat.” A year ago at Heather Heyer’s funeral, Bro said, “They tried to […]