Charlottesville Car Attack | Charlottesville Race and Terror
Charlottesville Race and Terror is a breaking news documentary that gives an unflinching look at how the Unite The Right Rally led to the Charlottesville Car Attack.
Central Question
Must we allow symbols of racism on public land?
The police killing of George Floyd had sparked widespread protests and reignited efforts across the U.S. to remove Confederate and other statues viewed as symbols of slavery and racism. One of them being the Robert Edward Lee statue in Charlottesville Virginia. To protest the removal, the far-right organized a Unite the right rally in Charlottesville. This film documents the rally and how it led to the Charlottesville car attack
On August 11, 2017, Intrepid Vice News reporter Elle Reeve goes behind the scenes at the Unite the Right rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. The rally was organized by far-right, white supremacy groups to protest the removal of Robert Edward Lee’s statue in Charlottesville virginia. The removal of the statue was ordered by the local government in accordance with the “removal of confederate monuments” policy. The Rally ran into a significant force of anti-fascist protesters and eventually culminated in a deadly attack on these counter-protesters, when a car driven by a rally attendee plowed into a crowd full force, killing one person and injuring nineteen others. The incident became infamously known as the Charlottesville Car attack
The documentary features interviews with marchers Christopher Cantwell, Robert Ray, David Duke, and Matthew Heimbach as well as counterprotesters, residents of Charlottesville, and members of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Unite the Right Rally
On August 11 and 12, 2017, the Unite the Right Rally occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. This was one of the largest, most violent gatherings in the United States in decades. The rally brought together various racist, antisemitic, white nationalist, and white supremacist groups, including the alt-right, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan. Jason Kessler, the rally’s organizer, claimed that the rally’s goal was to save the statue of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. During the rally, hundreds of people came to Charlottesville to march and show their antisemitic and racist views. Protesters chanted “you will not replace us,” “Jews will not replace us,” and “blood and soil,” directly echoing the chants and slogans used in Nazi Germany. Many brought full battle gear, including torches, weapons, shields, and flags with Nazi or Confederate insignia. Many openly gave Nazi salutes during the marches. There were numerous fights with counter-protesters – some of them also armed – throughout the day. The violence ended with a deadly attack on counter-protesters, when a car driven by a rally attendee plowed into a crowd, killing one person and injuring nineteen others. The Virginia governor then declared a state of emergency and the rally disbanded.
Cause of the Unite The Right Rally
The police killing of George Floyd sparked widespread protests and reignited efforts across the U.S. to remove Confederate and other statues viewed as symbols of slavery and racism. In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. A high-profile decision to tear down a famous bronze figure of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., was halted by a court challenge, which was extended indefinitely on Thursday. A 2018 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found there are more than 1,700 monuments to the Confederacy still in public spaces.
and the one of the most consequential weekends in recent American history. We gained access to the white nationalist protesters at Emancipation Park and followed the group through the senseless act of terror in downtown Charlottesville and back to rally organizer Christopher Cantwell’s hideaway outside of Virginia.
Timeline Charlottesville Car Attack
In the evening, hundreds of white nationalists gather at University of Virginia ahead of August 12th’s
planned Unite the Right rally. Wielding torches, their chants include phrases such as “white lives matter,”
“Jews will not replace us,” and the Nazi-associated phrase “blood and soil.”
A car plows into a crowd of people. Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, is killed, and 19 others
are sent to the hospital.