More than three weeks after white supremacists invaded Charlottesville, the city is still processing what happened. At last night’s city council meeting it was standing room only, as citizens expressed their anger and frustration. Sandy Hausman was there and filed this report.
The city’s manager spoke at length about over a dozen programs and services launched following violent protests this summer. He described an independent study of how the city dealt with the Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists – a $100,000 probe by a Richmond law firm, but Charlottesville resident Tanesha Hudson was not impressed.
“I guess I’m just tired of the commissions. I’m tired of the meetings. I’m tired of you getting people involved to do your jobs,” she said. “You could pay me $100,000 to make some changes. I think I could do a better job.”
She also dismissed hotlines set up to help police and investigators determine what went wrong and to make arrests.
“You had police there working, and they watched these people run down from behind the barricades, attack people and then run back up, and you want us to call a hotline? Another thing – not one person on city council has said they’re sorry. Not one!”
Mayor Mike Signer has apologized for his public finger-pointing after the rallies ended, but Rosea Parker wasn’t prepared to forgive.
“Signer, you need to resign,” she said. “Apology accepted by the community?” she said. “Not!”
And Kenneth Jackson added Signer wasn’t the only one who needed to step down.
Our governor wants to run for president next time, and then the director of homeland security was there too! My God. If a terror event went off, you can’t even handle a rally.”
Katrina Turner recalled her own experience on August 12th.
“The visions of that day have not left my mind yet. Your life flashing before your eyes, the bodies flying, blood everywhere. An Alt-Right member spit in a woman’s face and made the cut-throat sign to my son, right in front of the state police. When I asked was he going to do anything, they told me that they were only there to observe. If anything happened, they were to call the Charlottesville police department, so they did nothing.”
And UVA Student Danielle Honore wondered why police failed to step in during fights that broke out on August 11th and 12th.
“I saw five white supremacists pull out a sword on a black man by himself and start swinging it, and I’m right by a Charlottesville police officer, so I walk up to him and I say, ‘Excuse me, officer. Are you going to do something about that?’ Guess what he did! He giggled. It’s a joke to him. He laughed!”
Officials have not offered any explanation for the failure of police to act, and in the absence of information, rumors have spread. Resident Gloria Beard also wondered why two state policemen died when their chopper crashed.
“I don’t hear anything about those poor men who died. They were supposed to be experienced pilots. Now what happened to those people? Through the grapevine I don’t like what I’m hearing, but I’ve had no good answers. That sounds fishy!”
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating that incident, and the independent probe of how Charlottesville handled white supremacist rallies is unlikely to wrap until year’s end, but patience was at a premium, and resident Jim Baker argued for action. It was time to fire the chief of police.
“The lack of information leading up to and certainly in the aftermath should be reason enough for his dismissal. The sheer number of assaults and other crimes witnessed by community members on Market Street, on the mall and in our neighborhoods is sickening. I don’t know if he thought he was moving into a job in a sleepy college town. Clearly, this job is too much for him. Please negotiate a severance package and have the chief move on.”
He also called for the mayor and city manager to step down, but NAACP spokesman Rick Turner stepped up to object.
“How is it that the two African-American officials – City Manager Maurice Jones and Chief of Police Al Thomas seem to end up as scapegoats because of these incidents. Apparently Mr. Jones and Mr. Thomas are being blamed for decisions made by others. This sets a horrible example for children to see these men, their careers and families destroyed.”
Council members don’t usually respond during a public hearing, but when one man spoke about the need to compromise and argued for keeping confederate statues in parks, the city’s only black councilman – Wes Bellamy -- refused to remain silent.
“You left your hat, and when you get your hat, take that compromise with you,” he said.
Councilwoman Kristin Szakos, who was chairing the meeting, pounded her gavel as the crowd cheered. “Mr. Bellamy,” she said, “we are here to hear all voices where we agree with them or not.”
In the end, council took a unanimous vote on a symbolic action. If a court rules the city has the right to take down confederate monuments from its parks, Stonewall Jackson will join Robert E. Lee in moving to a museum or battlefield.