Marking the one-year anniversary of the violent and tragic events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, President Trump posted a message on Twitter that condemned “all types of racism.”
“The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division,” Trump tweeted “We must come together as a nation. I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!”
A summary of the events in Charlottesville, published by The New American shortly after they occurred, noted that after a “Unite the Right” rally was called to protest the removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee from a city park, counter-protesters clashed with the protesters, leading to violent encounters.
When Trump condemned the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” last year, he was harshly criticized for not restricting his condemnation to those protesting against the removal of the statue. While the demonstrators did include unsavory elements such as neo-Nazis, not all of them were so inclined. Furthermore, the counter-protesters included members of Antifa — an organization of violent radical leftists associated with communism and anarchism. So blame could properly be addressed to both sides, as the president did.
The article quoted Jason Kessler, one the protest’s organizers, who blamed the city government for the violence, stating, “All of the carnage that happened was because the Charlottesville city government would not recognize our right to assemble.”
A report of the Governor’s Civil Unrest Task Force placed much of the blame for the demonstration erupting into violence on the response of the Charlottesville government officials. “The City of Charlottesville placed minimal/no restrictions on the demonstrators,” the report charged.
Kessler’s role in the protest raised suspicions, however. He had previously been known as a supporter of former President Barack Obama and a left-wing activist with the Occupy Wall Street movement. It was unclear how he so quickly became a “leader” in the “alt-Right” movement, leading some to suspect him of being a leftist agent provocateur.
A Unite the Right 2 rally held in Washington, D.C., on August 12 was largely a non-event, as the turnout was so low that protestors were greatly outnumbered by police and the Antifa/Black Lives Matter counter-protesters. The organizers, led by Kessler, had a permit to protest in Lafayette Square across the street from the White House until 7:30 p.m. but left shortly after 5 p.m., when it began to rain.
Photo: AP Images
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