The mayor of Charlottesville, Va., condemned Saturday night’s demonstration by a large group of torch-bearing white nationalists who were protesting the removal of statues honoring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
“This event involving torches at night in Lee Park was either profoundly ignorant or was designed to instill fear in our minority populations in a way that hearkens back to the days of the KKK,” Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said in a statement. “Either way, as mayor of this city, I want everyone to know this: We reject this intimidation. We are a welcoming city, but such intolerance is not welcome here.”
“I think it’s horrific,” Signer told ABC News. “We’re a city that proudly values our diversity.”
According to the Daily Progress, a local newspaper, several dozen protesters gathered in the park around 9 p.m. carrying torches and chanting, “You will not replace us,” “Blood and soil” and “Russia is our friend.”
A spokesman for the Charlottesville Police Department told Yahoo News that the first responding officer on the scene “observed 100 to 150 people in the park, many of whom were carrying tiki-style torches.” The officer said that several members of the large group were arguing with single male who was yelling at them “to leave my town.” The officer began telling the group to leave the park, and “as additional units arrived, all parties involved began to leave the park without incident.”
No assaults, injuries or damage to the park were reported, and no arrests were made, the spokesman said.
Last month, the Charlottesville City Council voted to sell the Lee statue, but a judge later issued an injunction preventing the city from doing so for six months. In February, Signer signaled his support of a plan not to move the statues but instead design new monuments that “add to history” and “challenge and transform” the Jim Crow legacy that some believe the statues represent. The City Council is expected to meet again Monday to discuss the issue.
Richard Spencer — noted white nationalist and leader of the so-called alt-right — was among the torch-carrying protesters.
https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/863560985780658176
https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/863562427417464832
“What brings us together is that we are white, we are a people, we will not be replaced,” Spencer said in a video he posted using Periscope.
Tom Perriello, a Virginia gubernatorial candidate, lashed out at Spencer on Twitter.
“Get your white supremacist hate out of my hometown,” Perriello wrote.
Get your white supremacist hate out of my hometown. https://t.co/KfkxHImvze
— Tom Perriello (@tomperriello) May 13, 2017
“We won, you lost, little Tommy,” Spencer shot back.
We won, you lost, little Tommy. https://t.co/M7qAAJ4VGa
— Richard ❄️ Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) May 13, 2017
“Actually, you lost. In 1865,” Perriello replied. “150 years later, you’re still not over it.”
Actually, you lost.
In 1865.
150 years later, you're still not over it. https://t.co/pVLyn3gAjB
— Tom Perriello (@tomperriello) May 13, 2017
Meanwhile, Signer spent part of his weekend publicly responding to hate-filled Twitter messages.
Some especially high-quality trolls out tonight. https://t.co/kSVtuRscrZ
— Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) May 14, 2017
I'm not an expert, but I love how all these anonymous trolls try and use tropes of machismo to attack actual leaders. #profileincourage. https://t.co/yBvYKl7FOw
— Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) May 14, 2017
You seem nice. https://t.co/OL72TlXnsN
— Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) May 14, 2017
This garbage white supremacy won't even be a footnote in our history. #leave #resistance #welcomingcity.
— Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) May 13, 2017
Always good to sample a little good old anonymous Trump-era trolling to learn the true incoherence we're facing. Also, no daughters here. https://t.co/4bAdI5yV1w
— Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) May 13, 2017
“What brings us together is that we are white, we are a people, we will not be replaced,” Spencer said…”
Take a look around, bubba, you already have been.
All those millions of illegals.
“Tom Perriello, a Virginia gubernatorial candidate, lashed out at Spencer on Twitter.
“Get your white supremacist hate out of my hometown,” Perriello wrote.”
Get YOUR commie scumbag jewb#tch nigger @ss to the end of a rope, TRAITOR!!!
Mayor tried to get town declared a “sanctuary city”.
Tried to erase history by removing monuments.
Condemns protestors who want to keep monuments as KKK throwbacks and White Nationalists.
Guess the mayors ethnicity?
No cheating. One guess only.
Jeez, he’s a super-kike judging by his bio. Ultra progressive(zio-commie) with national truman project approval to boot. He has earned a spot at the front of the line.