Supremacist Movement Research Paper

Three dead, 19 severely injured, and for what? It started with a group of white nationalists. They were unhappy that the government was going to take down a statue of Robert E. Lee, a top commander of the confederate army during the civil war. It was being taken down because the african americans in the area found it offensive to have a statue of somebody who was fighting to keep their ancestors enslaved. This supremacist group didn’t want to take this down because they believed that it was part of their heritage and their history. To protest their thoughts, the group met up on the campus of University of Virginia to march. hundreds of people (mostly white males) lined up in white polos and khaki pants. They all carried torches and marched in rows of two. They marched and chanted things like, “Blood …show more content…
The rally was supposed to start at 12pm and end at 5pm but many people were already arriving at 8 o’clock that morning. Many people had weapons in hand. The groups were forming, the nationalists, the counter protesters, and some citizens and church groups showed up out of curiosity. Most businesses in the area closed down for the day. The KKK announced that they would be coming, fully armed. They arrived with rifles, and although they didn’t seem like they were going to cause trouble, it was still alarming to some that they had such large weapons. Police Officers were stationed at the sides of Emancipation Park (the main area for the protesters) but the streets around it were unsupervised. White nationalists flooded the streets and formed a row across Market Street, preventing anybody from crossing. They charged through the streets, swinging their sticks and holding out their shields. Counter Protesters began to fight back. Other sporadic fights occurred throughout the day. At around 11:22, law enforcement decided to step in. They declared it an, “unlawful assembly”. The rally had been legally stopped before it was even supposed to