Charlottesville: Hoping for the Best from Neo-Nazis?
We are approaching the second anniversary of the tragic “Unite the Right” rally. There hasn’t been a thorough investigation of the failure to guard public safety that day. There was an independent review, but executive privilege exercised by then-Governor Terry McAuliffe limited the scope. Now, with his new book (“Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism”), we have the McAuliffe’s version of what happened in Charlottesville on August 11-12, 2017.
This is a first installment. It relies heavily on the account in Beyond Charlottesville. In the six months leading up to the rally there were warnings of the potential for disorder, if not violence. They were not heeded with any sense of urgency or judgement at the highest levels of state government.
Once beyond the compelling Foreword by Congressman John Lewis, the McAuliffe style of anecdotal rhetoric begins to distract from what might provide a valuable analysis. Wrapping these events in righteous indignation is a subterfuge. It should alarm Virginians that it appears we remain unprepared to respond to the next threat.
On February 6, 2017, Charlottesville City Council decided to remove the statue of Robert E Lee from a park. The mayor of Charlottesville, Mike Signer, who voted against the removal, held a press conference later in the month to declare the city a “capital of resistance” to Trump. According to the tale, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran came to McAuliffe afterwards and told him there would be a problem.
Read more: https://bluevirginia.us/2019/08/charlottesville-hoping-for-the-best-from-neo-nazis