• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · News

8 Things You Need To Know About The White Supremacy Riots In Charlottesville 

Hate-filled violence led by white supremacists descended on the university town over the wekend.
8 Facts You Need To Know About The Weekend’s Chaos In Charlottesville
getty
By Paula Rogo · Updated October 26, 2020

The events in Charlottesville this weekend have shocked the nation, and will likely go down in history as one of the key events that will define the first year of the Trump administration.

From hate-filled night-time rallies at the University of Virginia to three deaths, here are eight points to know about this weekend’s’ events.

5205187153001

An Unlawful Assembly

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency “to aid state response to violence” ahead of a “Unite the Right” rally expected in Charlottesville Saturday, the home of the University of Virginia.

The rally was meant to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The city of Charlottesville voted to remove the statue earlier this year.

The rally was planned for noon, but the city of Charlottesville declared it an unlawful assembly before it could officially begin. Also, torch-bearing protesters scuffled with opposition demonstrators Friday night on the grounds of the University of Virginia.

The Car Incident

A was man accused of plowing a car into a crowd of protesters — killing one person and leaving 19 injured.

The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, traveled to Virginia from Ohio for the “Unite the Right” rally. He was arrested shortly after the incident and charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and another count related to the hit-and-run, police said. He is being held without bail and is scheduled for arraignment Monday.

The FBI said that they have opened a civil rights investigation.

The Victims

Police identified the woman killed by the car as Heather D. Heyer, 32, a Charlottesville resident.

An additional five people  people were in critical condition and 14 more injured from the crash, according the University of Virginia Hospital.

Fields Was A Racist

According to Fields’ history teacher, the young man had championed white supremacist ideals since high school. “It was obvious that he had this fascination with Nazism and a big idolatry of Adolf Hitler,” Derek Weimer told the Washington Post. “He had white supremacist views. He really believed in that stuff.”


Was It Domestic Terrorism?

Many have called Fields’ action domestic terrorism and want the case to be treated as such.

Brian Moran, Virginia secretary of public safety, said this of Fields: “He was a terrorist to do what he did.”

But it is not clear what the justice department will decide to do with the case just yet: “The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated.


Helicopter Crash

Two state police officers, Berke M.M. Bates and H. Jay Cullen also died Saturday when their helicopter crashed outside the University town.

A Unpresidential President

President Trump’s silence early on Saturday, and then his eventual statements have left many unsatisfied with him and the White House. His refusal to immediately condemn the white supremacists who showed up in Charlottesville will likely haunt him for the rest of the upcoming week. 

“The hate and the division must stop and must stop right now,” Trump said, without specifically mentioning white supremacists. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. On many sides.”

Trump Supporters Speak Out

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, a Trump supporter who was in Charlottesville on Saturday, made sure to remind the president who had put him in office.

“I would recommend you take a good look in the mirror & remember it was White Americans who put you in the presidency, not radical leftists,” he wrote in response to the president’s tweet.

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now