Activists and residents hold peaceful event in Charlottesville to mark 3 years since Aug. 12 violence

In the shadow of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which had served as backdrop for the deadly Aug. 12, 2017, Unite the Right rally and was now festooned with Black Lives Matter signs and anti-racists posters, organizers of the Reclaim the Park event offered people a chance to remember the events, proclaim their solidarity and reclaim the park as their own.

As people expressed themselves through music and art on handmade easels, the event had a relaxed and reflective atmosphere. Organizers had declared the park a “community-built space,” and used personal vehicles to close the streets surrounding Market Street Park.

Clergy led the event off with a prayer circle and people brought coolers, chairs and tents. Organizers asked attendees to not take photos or videos without consent and to wear masks and maintain social distancing standards. Speakers shared personal experiences and talked about the history of the Lee statue and racism in Charlottesville.

Among the speakers was Susan Bro, who said her daughter, Heather Heyer, showed up three years ago to fight for equal treatment of all people.

Heyer was killed in a car attack after the Unite the Rally was broken up by police when it devolved into violence between white supremacists and counterprotesters. The car attack injured more than 30 other counterdemonstrators.

“The only thing my daughter did was show up to walk,” Bro said. “She was a random murder in an act of terror.”

Bro, standing in front of the Lee statue, called for systemic change across the nation and for justice for those killed by police across the country, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

“Heather got her justice. She had her day in court. They have not,” Bro said. “Remember my daughter today. Please remember why she was here.”

Although the event was solemn in nature, it also had a light, party atmosphere as attendees blew bubbles, made posters and sprayed each other with Silly String.

Police and the news media were asked to stay away and there was little police presence, although Charlottesville police officers on bicycles were stationed nearby and Virginia State Police troopers were in the area and made several passes in cruisers.

In a media gaggle in front of Charlottesville’s Central Library, Amanda Moxham, a anti-racist activist, and Zyahna Bryant, the activist who started the petition to remove the Lee statue, said community members held the event in the downtown park to “reclaim the narrative” of Charlottesville and Aug. 12.

“By taking space today, we’re not only reclaiming the narrative of August 12, but we’re reclaiming the narrative of our city,” Bryant said.

When politicians and entertainers speak about “Charlottesville,” they’re taking about a weekend and not the community, she said. Bryant pointed to issues such as the disproportionate stop-and-frisk and arrest rates of Black people in the city and the demolition of Vinegar Hill.

“Until we’re able to fully address those deeper issues, we’re going to continue to have this racial tension that spills over into the streets and, which is how we get situations like the August attacks,” Bryant said.

Bryant said having police near the event could create a dangerous atmosphere.

“In a space like this, where we’re trying to reclaim the narrative and center those places, having police in that space is a dangerous thing for Black people,” Bryant said. “If we’re really about community, really about being welcoming for everyone, we have to respect those boundaries.”

The event was unofficial as the organizers did not seek nor receive a permit to hold it. Organizers said the presence of clergy leading prayer and reflection would put the event under an exception in the city’s ordinance, but that is not listed as an exemption for an event permit.

City Manager Tarron Richardson said in a statement that event permits have been suspended since the declaration of a local emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic and no event permits were issued for any city parks on Tuesday or Wednesday. The city took no enforcement action during the event.