Sunday Reads: A Brutal Slap Run Down

Posted: August 13, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: morning reads, open thread, U.S. Politics | Tags: , , , , , | 59 Comments

I should have started this post last night 12 hours ago, when we were eating dinner together as a family and my daughter told us the news that a white nationalist terrorist ran down some anti-protesters at the KKK/NeoNazi rally in Charlottesville…killing one. There was video of the terrorist act…obviously deliberate, my daughter said…and the tRump still had not made a statement condemning the killing.

I couldn’t start this post around midnight, when the migraine that started at dinner was in full force. I could feel the blood pumping into my brain and seemingly out each hair follicle. It was the most painful migraine I’ve had in a long time…

I started to write this post at 6:30 on Sunday morning, I still have not been able to view any news, tweets, Facebook post or videos of the vehicle being driven into a group of anti-hate protesters. Fear, disgust and something I cannot even describe in words is keeping me from reading about what happened in Charlottesville. I’m sure there is a # hashtag now trending. I don’t want to know what it is…

The display on Friday night with Nazis sans hoods carrying tiki torches was enough to make me realize that the white nationalist rally on Saturday would be dangerous. I think when my daughter told us that one of those hateful bastards…actually just one of tRump’s base, killed and injured people so violently…it only validated my feelings that the situation is far more out of control than many claim.

I didn’t live through the war for Civil Rights and the freedoms that never came to many people of color in places of the United States. (Even though the majority of SCOTUS believes/believed that it has…) I know things will get worse. But I am concerned that this time it will become more obnoxious and over-saturated in its violence. Like filters on Instagram used to enhance pictures so people are ale to get a Gramblast, only people won’t be using apps to manipulate the images of their hatred. The audacity of the violent terrorist acts will speak for themselves.

Now here we are, on the verge of a literal nuclear catastrophe on one side of the globe….as well as, government sanctioned racism/bigotry/sexism and a war of hate on nuclear proportions here on our own soil…with the most explosive and incendiary president in this country’s history.

Well…it is almost 7:30, and I should read the news and find links to share with you all. Let’s do it in a link dump, of updates and tweets. It may not be much, don’t know if my mental capacity will be able to withstand the onslaught of “ultra violence” this morning.

Here we go:

“Criminal Homicide?” Uh…terrorist act? Hate crime?

This is the letter I received from Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center last night, many of you probably got the same message, but I thought it would be a good starting point:

After the deadly clash between hundreds of white supremacists and counter-protesters today in Charlottesville, Virginia, President Trump called for Americans to “come together.”

 

He used similar words in his victory speech in the wee hours of Nov. 9, even as white supremacists began to celebrate.

 

The problem is that Trump’s words are hollow.

 

His calls for the country to unite will continue to be meaningless as long he fails to take responsibility for his role in dividing it – something he conspicuously avoided again during his press conference today.

 

“It’s been going on for a long time,” Trump said. “Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama.”

 

It’s true. America has had racial strife since its founding.

 

But from the day he came down the escalator in the tower that bears his name, Trump consciously poured fuel on the fire. He ran a racist, xenophobic campaign that energized the radical right – that “unearthed some demons,” as U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford put it.

 

The day after Trump was elected, hate incidents soared. Many of them were carried out in his name.

 

Neo-Nazi David Duke, the former Klan leader who endorsed Trump during his campaign, had this to say about the deadly violence in Charlottesville:

 

“This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”

 

Duke’s words reflect the views of a white nationalist movement that sees Trump as its champion.

 

Let there be no mistake: This is a fascist movement that threatens not only extremist violence but our democracy as well.

 

All the while, Trump continues to employ as his chief strategist the former head of Breitbart News, Stephen Bannon, who has proudly boasted that he provided “the platform for the alt-right” – a fancy term for white supremacy in the digital age.

 

All the while, the Trump administration continues to play down the threat of white supremacist violence.

 

Trump calls for the country to unite. But he is still ducking responsibility for his role in dividing it.

 

Until he apologizes and takes responsibility for the damage he has caused and enacts policies to mend the wounds in our country, his words will continue to ring hollow.

The article below has been updated this morning at 8:30 EDT:

Pictured: Woman killed at anti-white supremacist protest | Daily Mail Online

  • Heyer, a paralegal with the Miller Law Group PC in Virginia, was a native of Greene County and graduated from William Monroe High School.
  • Heather Heyer, 32, was protesting hate-fueled white supremacist march in Charlottesville on Saturday when James Alex Fields Jr, of Maumee, Ohio, allegedly plowed his vehicle into the crowd, killing her
  • ‘She died doing what was right. My heart is broken, but I am forever proud of her,’ Heyer’s mother said
  • Heyer, a paralegal and native of Greene County was passionate about social justice and her final public Facebook post, dated from 2016, read: ‘If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention’
  • Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said a total of 35 people had been treated for injuries after incident  
  • Police arrested Fields Jr, 20, who was charged with second-degree murder Saturday night 
  • The Dodge Challenger was filmed ramming into a line of people, then reversing quickly away from the scene 
  • FBI and federal prosecutors announced that they have opened up a civil rights investigation into incident 
  • The Unite the Right rally was held at Emancipation Park and hundreds were seen stomping through the city
  • A local state of emergency was declared around 11am and the rally was determined an unlawful assembly 
  • State police helicopter covering the rally crashed near a golf course within city limits, killing two officers  

The woman who was mowed down and killed at an anti-fascist rally in Virginia has been identified as Heather Heyer.

Heyer, 32, was protesting hate-fueled white supremacist march in Charlottesville on Saturday when James Alex Fields Jr, of Maumee, Ohio, allegedly plowed his vehicle into the crowd, killing her and injuring 19 others.

Fields Jr, who is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, has since been charged with second-degree murder.

[…]

Video of the Dodge Challenger, which is registered to Fields, showed the driver accelerating into the crowd throwing bodies into the air as people scream before reversing at high speed.

According to the jail’s superintendent, Martin Kumer, Fields was also booked on suspicion of malicious wounding, failure to stop for an accident involving a death, and hit and run. Kumer said Fields is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

Three additional arrests have also been made related to the rally; Troy Dunigan, 21, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, 21, of Louisa, Virginia, arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, and James M. O’Brien, 44, of Gainesville, Florida, arrested and charged with carrying a concealed handgun.

The deadly crash came after violent clashes erupted as hundreds of white supremacists including armed militias marched into Charlottesville sparking violent confrontations with counter-protesters.

Police cleared the scene with tear gas but the violence continued. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said a total of 35 people had been treated for injuries, 14 of those were from individual engagements on the streets.

Horrifying video from the scene of the attack showed the silver muscle car speeding towards a group of fleeing anti-fascist protesters.

Another clip showed the vehicle ramming into the crowd at high speed and victims crying out in pain as they desperately sought medical help.

Witnesses said the car was traveling up to 40mph when it hit and reversed before ramming into the crowd again and speeding off with someone’s shoe attached to its bumper.

[…]

In addition to the dozens of people hurt in the accident, at least 15 people were already being treated for their injures during other destructive clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters at Emancipation Park before the controversial Unite the Right rally.

The day was met with more tragedy, when a Virginia State Police helicopter, carrying two officers, crashed inside city limits and thick black smoke was seen rising from behind the trees.

Lieutenant H Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Virginia, was piloting the aircraft. The other occupant was Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, Virginia. Police confirmed that they both died at the scene.

There were no other injuries and the cause of the crash remains under investigation at this time by state police, the FFA and NTSB.

 

I urge you to go to the link and look at the pictures and read the rest of the article, especially the disgusting quotes by Richard Spencer.

 

Some Twitter Reactions:

 

 

 

I am just seeing these responses…and I feel like I want to throw up.

This is the tweet that @bluegal is referring to:

That link above goes to this: run over car protesters meme – Google Search

 

 

The AP is finally using the term “White Supremacist” :

Disturbing stuff there….and here:

Check out that thread of tweets…supposedly from the murderers Facebook page.

 

And I will end with this little nugget of shit:

No word yet as to just which turd fuck senior White House Official said that…stay tuned.

This is an open thread…