INTERVIEW – U.S. REP. TOM GARRETT (R-VA05) – the United States Representative for Virginia’s 5th congressional district
TOPIC: thoughts on the events in Charlottesville
-In the wake of the violent clashes at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., that left three dead and more than a dozen injured, a Virginia congressman said Sunday he is “afraid” about the future of the nation.
-On Saturday, a Dodge Challenger rammed into a group of counter-protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman—identified as Heather Heyer—as she was crossing the street. Just hours later, two state police officers died in a helicopter crash. Law enforcement officials said the officers were “assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation in Charlottesville,” at the time of the accident.
-The rally, called “Unite the Right,” was initiated by members of white nationalist, Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Earlier this year, the city voted to remove it from Emancipation Park, but it remains in place until a judge rules on the matter later this month. Protesters said the demonstration, which the Southern Poverty Law Center said could be the “largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades in the United States,” was created to “take America back.”
-President Trump denounced the events in Charlottesville during a brief speech in New Jersey on Saturday.
