See the Sparks That Set Off Violence in Charlottesville | National Geographic

The point of the rally is to, number one, protect this statue because this statue is one of many statues that are in honor of the history of Western civilization and European peoples that are being torn down. [Applause] The policies that liberals have put in place, although they may have been put in place with good intentions, are effectively ethnically cleansing white people from the face of the earth. One of the ethnicities that's most in danger is the southern white people.

[Music] Hey, get — I don't think that people should be treated unfairly because of their race or any other characteristic. I just feel like this country and its demographic should remain the same as they have been for the majority of their history. But there seems to be this problem with the social justice people, where they have a distinct hatred for white people. Some might say they’re pushing for equality. No, I would not say that they’re pushing for equal rights. I think that they have long since passed the point where they have been going for anything approximating equality. They’re looking for special treatment for these groups at this point. They want to have institutionalized discrimination against white people.

They refuse to accept that there are genetic differences between different races of people. So, there are reasons why, for instance, Asians, Jews, and white people are people who have high test scores and are able to compete in a university environment. I do think that the country should be 80 to 85 percent white because that was the traditional demographic of the country. It was white people who founded this country and it is our race which is in danger of being eradicated due to these immigration policies.

Women’s best role in life is to be mothers and to be wives. In your view, I shouldn’t be working. I shouldn’t be talking to you in this—no, I didn’t—professional setting. No, I didn’t say that people should be banned from having professions, but I think that culturally we should put an emphasis on having women as wives and mothers.

Are you worried about violence erupting on Saturday? [Music] My role as a pastor, a grassroots organizer, and a father is to call on people to stand up in the face of evil and stand up for what is good. I, as part of the team that put out a call for 1,000 clergy and faith leaders to join us in body and spirit, and we’re just one piece of the movement of community members that are coming to Sherman’s.

I can still remember standing on the street on the sidewalk and watching the Klan rally go by. I can still remember the flags, the American flag being one of them, and the hoods passing me by. I can still see it in my mind’s eye, and here I am at 54 years old coming back because the Klan is still rising up. This is our state. Nazis are not welcome here. Nazis are not welcome.

[Music] It’s pretty amazing. There was this incredible interfaith service here at the Episcopal Church in Charlottesville and now just across lockdown, yes, the road is hundreds of alt-right people carrying torches, and no one really knows where they’re going, whether they’re coming in this direction. A lot of people are sort of locked down in the church. It’s so bizarre. It’s like the civil rights era all over again.

Can you see the rights? You will not replace us! You will not replace us! You no fascists! No KKK! You're the only sad one! Your America’s gone! How do you feel good about yourselves just standing there like that by yourself? Because I’m losing, broadcasting this to all my friends and showing them how sad and pathetic you are. Where are your jobs? There’s nothing wrong with being proud of who you are.

[Applause] [Music] Our country has been usurped by a foreign tribe called the Jews! Are you in charge? The blacks are the blacks!

[Music] Now an unlawful assembly, disperse the area unless...

[Music] We must never allow anybody to naturalize criminality, to make crimes look like it’s part of the natural order.

[Music] We shall...

[Music] No fear! White supremacy is not welcome here! No hate! No fear!

[Applause] The commanding officer of the Pennsylvania Left Foot Militia. All these militiamen—some are three percenters, some of his pastries—they just come out here to make sure that things kind of stay peaceful. You know, a lot of these rallies and stuff that are happening lately, law enforcement’s greatly outnumbered.

We came out here, we’re loud and proud. We’re not going anywhere! We’re an American organization and our membership represents this.

[Applause] Let’s go. We have already...

[Applause] Okay, sir, you wanted free speech, that you want to talk? Would you like to talk? No? Have you been instructed not to talk to the media? Why did you want—can you talk about why you wanted to be here? Are you with the press? Yeah, no comment.

Why? Excuse me, step aside! I don’t just step aside! I can stand wherever I want! Don’t tell me to step aside!

[Music] Hey, well, they had riot gear and they charged us, is what happened. I don’t—I don’t know, I haven’t looked in the mirror.

[Music] I just got dumped on me! Look at me, my brand new shirt! Would you consider yourself a neo-Nazi? I would not. I’d consider myself a white nationalist, and I would consider myself a member of the alt-right.

And what does that mean to you? White nationalist—I want a homeland for white people, and I think every race should have a homeland for their own race.

So do you agree that—with the guy who organizes, organizes Jason Kessler—that America should be 80 to 85 percent white? Yes. And why?

I think there’s a demographic decline going on, not only here but in Europe, and we need some place that can be a white homeland where we will be spread out.

And how old are you? 18. Do your parents agree with you? No, not at all. My mother is a union teacher and my father is a blue collar worker. No, they don’t agree with me at all. How do they feel about your being here? My mom and my father most heavily discouraged.

I think all of our parents did, actually. Following your parents’ beliefs just because they’re older than you and they raised you, it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. You should believe for yourself. You should look into things for yourself and then decide what you want.

Where did my family come from? Both grandparents on my side of me or grandparents or Italian immigrants.

We came together for this rally, so I would say that I might disagree with their optics or their appearance or whatever they have declared.

I have to go. Us, okay? See, we’re marching to McIntyre. We’re marching to McIntyre Park. Charlottesville Police Department comes in an hour and a half after our permit started at 10 a.m. and declares an unlawful assembly. It was a heckler’s veto. Our people were not being violent; they were being violent to us.

And from my understanding, our people were tear-gassed after they declared an unlawful assembly. Our people left immediately, and they still—I didn’t witness that, but that’s what people are telling me.

[Applause] Somewhere, what did you think of what you saw today here in Charlottesville? I’ve never seen so much hatred in the eyes of my fellow human beings in my life. We are in very deep trouble. This country is in deep trouble.

You’ve been doing this kind of activism for a long time, and how would you compare this to other moments in history? Well, this is a neo-fascist moment, and it’s a neo-fascism that is much broadly spread than it was before.

I’m against hatred, and so when I hear that anarchist brothers and sisters talk about scum, I don’t like that language, but they’re responding to a hatred that is so vicious and they’re not running anything and they’re not tied to anything.

You know, the goal of one side is domination, oppression, and separation. The goal of the other side is more democracy, is acceptance, is toxic. I don’t like the way they’re expressing that because it comes out as hatred, but you have to differentiate between the two sides because of the goals.

The goal of one side is oppression; the goal of the other side is freedom. Even though we might not agree with their tactics, you have to differentiate between the two.

Go, go!

[Music] 12, and they got out here.

[Music] No, I need my sister. Okay? They’re gonna get her in the ambulance right now.

[Applause] What we gathered, there were injuries—one fatality from a vehicle plowing into a crowd of people. I’m not sure what it ever was about the statue; this is just about reprehensible racism. That’s all that it is.

This is just the beginning of Heather’s legacy. They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well guess what? You just magnified her!

[Music]