Former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader David Duke turned up to the far-right rally at Charlottesville (Virginia, USA) to utter the rallying call of nationalists everywhere:”We are determined to take our country back”. But only hours after Duke spoke, the violence turned to tragedy when a car drove straight into the counter-protesters. One woman was killed and 19 others were injured.
https://twitter.com/jowrotethis/status/896392449760698368
Terror attack
The horrific attack occurred as protesters were marching:
There was devastation:
Horrifying images emerge from violent day in #Charlottesville. https://t.co/CPHkFHuOpD pic.twitter.com/q3UYDoG7rp
— ABC News (@ABC) August 13, 2017
Not long after the attack, James Alex Fields Jr., age 20, was arrested for second-degree murder and other offences. He is alleged to be part of the neo-Nazi Vanguard America.
This is terrorist suspect James Alex Fields & the rest of his white supremacist organization he was with in #Charlottesville. #NoLoneWolf pic.twitter.com/paMV9MkBlD
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) August 13, 2017
The woman killed was Heather Hayer:
#RestInPower Heather Heyer, who gave her life today in defense of liberty and justice for all. We will not forget you. #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/3tem2RFsoY
— Yes, You're Racist (@YesYoureRacist) August 13, 2017
Subsequently, Republican Senator Ted Cruz described what happened as “domestic terrorism”.
Nationalism and fascism
The excuse for the far-right rally at Charlottesville was the intended removal by local authorities of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
A march by torch-wielding nationalists and white supremacists on Friday evening preceded the rally on Saturday. The “Unite the Right” rally was promoted by white nationalist Richard Spencer. And it drew several different groups, including activists from the “alt-right,” Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other white supremacists:
https://twitter.com/AndyBCampbell/status/896385942495285248
And racist thugs took every opportunity to attack lone counter-protesters:
The MSM won't show how these white supremacist groups were targeting random Black ppl in #Charlottesville & beating them with poles pic.twitter.com/nBksLZrC4Q
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) August 13, 2017
A full timeline of events at Charlottesville is here.
Hate crime is terrorism
Meanwhile in Britain, the rallying call pre and post EU referendum is the same as the white supremacists of the US: “take our country back”. And since the referendum and the recent terror attacks, there has been a noticeable increase in hate crimes. Indeed, Rhodri Philipps, the 4th Viscount St Davids, was jailed recently after he offered £5,000 for the first person to ‘accidentally’ run over Gina Miller, the woman who won a Brexit legal challenge against the government. And Miller has since received death threats and fears to leave her home.
There’s a fine line between hate crimes and terror and between nationalism and fascism. That line is crossed easily and we ignore the dangers at our peril.
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Featured image via screenshot.
