Statue of limitations

The statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that has roiled Charlottesville since 2016—and led to 2017’s deadly influx of white supremacists—has ceased to exist, at least as a Lost Cause icon. When parts of the bronze monument hit the crucible in a 2,200-degree furnace recently, it was a solemn and emotional experience for the […]

Campaign pain: Joe Biden talks about Charlottesville a lot. Charlottesville isn’t sure he’s listening.

When Joe Biden announced last year that he was running for president, the first words he uttered were “Charlottesville, Virginia.” The campaign video that followed featured footage of the Unite the Right rally overlaid with a voiceover from Biden, responding to President Trump’s infamous comment: “[You] had people that were very fine people, on both […]

In brief: Tiki terror, teacher trouble, and more

Statue disposal Many of Richmond’s Monument Avenue Confederate statues are gone, but debate over their removal continues, and people have wondered where the toppled statues are being stored. This week, some sharp-eyed Richmonders noticed a large collection of monument-shaped tarps standing around the city’s wastewater treatment plant. It’s about as close as you can get […]

Reporting back: Tracking hate crimes in Heather Heyer’s name

Nearly two years after plowing his car into a group of counterprotesters at the Unite the Right rally—killing Heather Heyer and injuring 35 others—self-proclaimed neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. was convicted on 29 federal hate crime charges. Yet Heyer’s death was one of the thousands of hate crimes not included in official FBI hate crime […]

Why are Charlottesville cops still driving this car?

Whether you were on Fourth Street that afternoon or not, you know the car: the low-slung gray muscle car with the distinctive brake lights that James Fields used to murder Heather Heyer and injure dozens of others on August 12, 2017. From video footage and the shocking photograph that won local photographer Ryan Kelly a […]