Several hundred people rallied at the University of Virginia this weekend – many of them students or faculty members protesting the heavy police presence in Charlottesville.
“They are here to control us!” protesters chanted as they unfurled a banner reading Last Year They Came With Torches. This Year They Come with Badges. Security fences at the site and the large number of police on hand made organizers uneasy, and they quickly changed plans.
“The rally will not held here," shouted one student organizer. "The rally will be held 500 feet in that direction!”
The crowd reassembled a short distance away, but at their new location they were confronted by a line of state police in riot gear – standing between them and the campus. That prompted a new chant:
“Why are you in riot gear? We don’t see no riot here!”
City councilman Wes Bellamy approached the officers with a plea – asking them to de-escalate. They laid down their shields, and the crowd moved away, beginning a two hour march through the surrounding neighborhood. Each time they encountered police, they changed course, passing through an African-American neighborhood where they were greeted by 56-year-old Aretha Brown, a life-long resident and a food service worker at UVA.
“Thank you all," she called out. "We are one. We have to stand together – no more Nazis in this town.”
Marchers then made their way to the statue of Robert E. Lee in Market Street Park. Again, police in riot gear appeared, and shortly before 10 p.m. the crowd dispersed. There were no injuries and no arrests. In Charlottesville,
