Rounding out a weekend of chaos, a couple hundred people took to the streets in Richmond Sunday night, protesting white supremacy and fascism. Police closed down portions of Broad Street as they marched to a monument of Robert E. Lee. A local journalist covering the march was attacked, and one protester was arrested.
UPDATE August 15, 9:13 am: The organizer of the planned September rally tells local media he has decided to withdraw his permit request.
In a video shot by a local television journalist, you can hear protesters tell the cameraman to stop filming, then someone hits him on the head and he falls to the ground.
According to the station, the journalist had to get four staples in his scalp, but was later released from the hospital.
Earlier in the night those same activists were hosting a vigil for Heather Heyer, the young woman killed in Charlottesville when an alleged white supremacist drove into a crowd of counter-protesters. Many who were there when the car plowed through the crowd, came to the vigil in Richmond Sunday.
“While it was all still fresh in our memory, while the anger -- so to speak -- was still there,” says one organizer Austin Gonzalez. “Because it’s easy to let time pass by and to let time heal the wounds, but that just covers up what happened on Saturday.”
Gonzalez heads up the Richmond chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. He says they didn’t plan to march Sunday, but they wanted to capitalize on the anger in the crowd.
“We did not have any intention of causing harm to anybody,” Gonzalez says. “We did not plan on having any open confrontations with police, with journalists, nothing of the sort.”
A city official says ten people in the group were openly carrying guns. Richmond police are still investigating and couldn’t confirm that number. Gonzalez says no one with his group was armed, but doesn’t deny that others were.
“Any people that were there who were armed were there specifically for security purposes only because of on Saturday night, the cowardly act that was taken upon us,” Gonzalez says. “So anyone that did come there armed were merely expressing their rights as Virginians to stay protected.”
I don't think anyone wants any sort of rally that will continue to divide a community and spew hate and intolerance.
Nerves were already strung tightly in Richmond. News broke Sunday of a permit requestfor a rally in September at Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument. That permit was requested by a Confederate heritage group, before events in Charlottesville took place.
At this point the city doesn’t have control over the permit. Because the state owns the monument, the Department of General Services is responsible for approving or denying the request.
“I would make the request that in light of the events that happened in Charlottesville that we take a deep look at whether or not this is something that should go forward on September 16th,” said Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.
Stoney says whatever happens, the city will be prepared.
“I don’t think anyone wants any sort of rally that will continue to divide a community and spew hate and intolerance,” Stoney adds. “That’s something that no mayor would want for their city.”
UPDATE: The organizer of the planned September rally tells local media he has decided to withdraw his permit request.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
