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August 12, 2017 07:20 PM UTC

White Supremacist Rally Terror Attack Shocks GOP Conscience

  • 37 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: From the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado:

We call on all who strive for a more just, anti-racist society to join Denver-area faith leaders, and activists at 2 PM Sunday at the Dr. King statue near the southwest corner of City Park. [Pols emphasis] Dr. King reminds us still that the “philosophy of nonviolent resistance is the only logical and moral approach to the solution of the race problem in the United States.”

Like many people of faith, we are horrified at the violent actions and rhetoric displayed by white nationalists in the last couple days. Following leaders of color in Colorado and nationwide, we must add that we are not surprised. This has been the reality for leaders in the Movement for Black Lives, the Sanctuary movement, and other movements for justice in this country for a long time, and–as there are people of color on our staff and embedded in our partnerships–all of us must face the depth of the hold that white supremacy has on our society and culture.

What happened Saturday in Charlottesville was a disgusting act of aggression and violence by a group of people–white and mostly male–who perceive themselves and their ‘group’ as losing power. They are under no real threat. No one is attacking them. No one is killing their children. They have had centuries long access to land, material wealth, physical health, education, and safety.

Many political and faith leaders have, and will, denounce the vitriol coming from overt white nationalists. It is tougher, and essential, to look deeply at how complacency and coded rhetoric and policies have combined to nurture an environment in which white supremacy can survive and, as we are now seeing, thrive in our current reality.

Tougher still is to see ourselves implicated in allowing hate and supremacy to live. We are called to do our part in building a new way. Love can drive out hate, but not without love-filled actions of courage, sacrifice, and witness. Love must win, but to live a faithful life of love requires action, and community. Join us and a host of others Sunday at 2 PM.

—–


Viewer discretion advised.

CNN reporting on the horrible events today in Charlottesville, Virginia, the scene of a white supremacist rally following weeks of controversy over the removal of Confederate monuments from public parks that turned tragically violent:

One person was killed and 19 were hurt when a speeding car slammed into a throng of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, where a “Unite the Right” rally of white nationalist and other right-wing groups had been scheduled take place, the city tweeted on its verified account.

A 32-year-old woman was killed while walking across the street, Thomas said. Police were still in the process of notifying her family.

Two Virginia State Patrol troopers were killed in a helicopter crash while “assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation in Charlottesville,” the agency said in a news release. The pilot, Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned 41 on Sunday, died in the crash.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe McAuliffe had a pointed message for the right-wing groups that flocked to Charlottesville on Saturday: “Go home. … You are not wanted in this great commonwealth. Shame on you.”

President Donald Trump’s response to the violence against counterprotesters in Charlottesville was that that “many sides” are to blame, not the white supremacists who gathered in the city for an eerily Naziesque blazing-torch march to a statue of Thomas Jefferson yesterday, and today engaged in what can only be described as street combat against left-wing counterprotesters. This (understatement) totally inadequate response from the President is receiving what seems to be authentic bipartisan condemnation in Colorado:

The resurgence of unapologetic white supremacism since Donald Trump’s campaign for and eventual election as President is undeniable in both statistical and anecdotal terms–as evidenced by the rise of hate crimes in the United States, and the boldness of the racist movement that organized the chaos in Charlottesville to fight against the removal of Confederate names and statues from the city’s public parks. Even if Trump didn’t make the linkage painfully obvious by failing to explicitly condemn white supremacism and the American white racist movement following today’s violence, everyone knows why this movement is emboldened to the point of taking to the streets in store-bought riot gear.

It’s because Trump has emboldened them. And every member of Trump’s party, up to and including Sen. Cory Gardner, owns a piece of what is happening. Somewhere deep in the conscience of an intelligent former Democrat like Sen. Gardner, who learned in college about essential civic responsibility, that truth burns bright and it torments.

It had better, anyway. History will not be kind to any of them.

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37 thoughts on “White Supremacist Rally Terror Attack Shocks GOP Conscience”

  1. Here's a message summing up two of the "sides": This is Officer Nash, protecting the free speech and worthless skins of KKK members in Charlottesville today. How much crap did Officer Nash have to put up with from these scumbags?

    Reza Akbari probably took the original photo and posted it on Twitter.

     

    Other observations: MSNBC said that there were 1,000 racists and 6,000 counterprotesters. The majority of those were peaceful. Yes, antifa likes to provoke violence, and I've called them out on that before. 

    But as of Friday night, antifas  were trying not to endanger the noncombatants. In reply to V's post earlier, counterprotesters at the statue Friday night were maced by the white supremacists. Richard Spencer, leading the racist mob, admitted that they surrounded and beat up the people at the statue.

    A Federal judge, petitioned by the ACLU to protect the racists' freedom of speech, gave the "Unite the Right" rally permission to assemble in the tiny Robert E Lee statue- displaying "Emancipation Park". Let's pack 3,000 people who hate each other's guts into a space the size of a high school lunchroom and see what happens! What could go wrong?

    Casualties as of 5 hours ago: 41 injured, one dead. Of the injured, 26 in the car assault, 15 in street fighting. Some injuries are life threatening. Curfew has been called.

    Still no massive quasi-military presence, as we saw in Ferguson and every other "Black Lives Matter" protest. No tanks, no hummers. I don't know, but if I was making decisions about going up against a bunch of crazy racist futhermuckers in full on riot gear and long rifles, I might want to bring in a tank or two. Even if their skins are white.

    The mayor of Charlottesville, Michael Signer, said:

    "I'm not going to make any bones about it. I place the blame for a lot of what you're seeing in America today right at the doorstep of the White House and the people around the president," he said.

    Still Donald Trump seems to be trying to placate Steve Bannon, the KKK, and the white racists who elected him; he won't say the words "white supremacists" or "domestic terrorism".  Neither will any of our trolls.

    1. Sorry, m.j., But the Washington Post story is clear.  "0ne counterprotestor apparently used a chemical spray to disable about a dozen protestors."

       first violence was from the left.  No, they weren't all just praying.

       

       

      1. Sorry, V, but if you look at the link I posted , you'll see Richard Spencer, leader of the alt right group, altright.com, and an organizer of the unity rally, bragging that yes, they did surround and block the exit of counterprotesters at the stupid Robert E Lee statue. You think they did that nonviolently?

        Fact check: true. https://t.co/94ti7BwFLJ

        — Richard ☝🏻Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 12, 2017

        These assholes were all over Charlottesville beating up innocent black folks.

        And don't even go there putting your words in my posts: I never said that there was ONLY praying going on. You like to do that, and then when I respond to your posts and prove YOU wrong, you never acknowledge it. You don't even need to drag in the fricking Peloponessians or 1930s labor history to show that you're a knowledgeable guy who's read many books. I get that.

        It doesn't even matter "who did it first". Violence was preordained from the minute the "unitetheright" rally was organized.

        If you look at the videos from today, you'll see that yes, antifas are on the front lines fighting the Nazis. But the vast majority of folks there were peaceful. Here is a powerful video of the interfaith pastors marching and praying.
         

         

        Do you dispute that most of the counterprotesters were nonviolent?  Are you going to say the words "White extremists", "White supremacists", "domestic terrorists"  and admit that their deciding to have a rally in Charlottesville was the primary cause of this violence? Douchebag antifas would never have showed up had the alt-right not decided to try to keep fighting the Civil War in C'ville.  Do you think that racists are more at fault than non-racists for this fiasco? Be careful of your answer –  it might make your new BFF PP mad.

        Our parents fought the Nazis – in a literal, blood and guts way, as well as peaceably. . Mom was a refugee from Nazi violence. The Allies did not win  nonviolently. 9 million Jews and others, 80 million soldiers on all sides. Now these scumsuckers want to spit on the memory of those who defeated Hitler and Mussolini. That doesn't piss you off a tad?

        1. Bullshit, mj.  Your link descibes violence saturday.  It is also a huffpo report that talks about a leftie pointing a gun at a huffpo reporter, in what I asume you think is a non violent manner.  The washington post reported the first violencr friday came when a counter protestor maced a dozen protestors.  The counter protestors are the lefties and, yes, they were the first to resort to violence.  That doesn't excuse the car assault but it does call bullshit on your link — which at no point contradicts the washington post.

           

  2. It's also worth noting that two Virginia state troopers died in a helicopter crash apparently related to the demonstration.  That didn't stop the left from bitterly criticizing the police who were risking their lives to protect them and the court ordered demonstration.  

    Blue lives matter, despite the hate directed at them.

    1. You'll never see me calling a cop a pig. I've owed my life or my kid's lives to police too many times. That said, there are people who are natural sadists and bullies who disgrace the uniform. Unless you think that the 178 black people killed by police this year alone all had it coming to them.

      https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/

      Local and state police, and national guard should have been deployed in Charlottesville much earlier, with better equipment and numbers.

      The police administration decision to "stand down" and not interfere with the street fighting was incomprehensible, unless, like us conspiracy nuts, you think it might be DJT's wish to show that martial law is needed to quell civil unrest.

      They were willing to let the racists and the antifas have a bloody battle with all kinds of civilian casualties. Why?

       

      1. We're on track to have more than 100 police killed in the line of duty this year.Apparently, you don't care.  I do.  In the michael brown case, two investigations, one by the Obama administration, ruled it a justified shooting.  But the left never willing to let a deliberate lie interfere with their hate fests, continues to call brown's death murder.  

        Blue lives matter..  One of them, my son in law, is on patrol as this is typed.  

        And, by the way, no police department has a "tank.". A few have armored personnel carriers.  Big difference.

        1. I don't see anybody around here defending violence against cops. Nobody. Zilch. "2nd amendment remedies" is a phrase used by the right-wing, the NRA and gun nuts advocating violence against the government, not the left.

          Black Lives Matters is a powerful slogan because it points out the injustice that police are literally getting away with murder. The slogan that Blue Lives Matters is an offensive false equivalence, because nobody on the left is advocating killing police.

          When a police officer escalates a simple traffic stop into a murder of an innocent black man in front of his girlfriend and baby. That is not lapse in professional judgment; it isn't even a murder it is an abomination. If you are black or hispanic, how do you know that calling 911 won't end up in your own death or ICE removing your mother?

          Do you actually know any black people? 

          Have you ever heard the phrase "Driving while black" or "Jaywalking while black"? How about "broken windows policing"?

          Do you know what it means for black parents to "Have the talk"?

          Regarding the Charlotte protests. 

          I'm with mama on this. Neo fascists, neo-nazis and the "alt-reich" are gunning (literally) for violent confrontation. These groups advocate violence and come prepared for it; it doesn't even matter who threw the first pepper spray. Why were the groups close enough for pepper spray, anyway? Given the potential for violence, why was the police presence standing back? Why were the police letting nazis beat up elderly women? 

          We have a white supremacist running the Justice Department, and a President whipping up racism. ICE is being turned into a paramilitary force directed against hispanics.

          Neo-nazis, KKK, alt-right, and racists are all living the dream.

          Deleted. Please accept my apologizies for questioning that you are opposed to the Trumpian regime

          1. When a case such as michael brown's has been thoroughly investigated, twice, once by a black president and attorney general, and found to be a justified use of force, then to continue calling it murder is beyond stupidity, it is advocating the murder of innocent police offucers.  

            It's not a difference of opinion, as Park Hill and MJ suggest.  It is libel.  Words have meaning and murder is a judgment that can only be made by a jury, not some blowhard on a blog.

            Blue lives matter.  I mourn that two more innocent and brave men have fallen protecting our lives and our rights.

          2. You mean this talk, don't you, P.H.? 

            From Bruce Springsteen's 41 Shots

            41 shots, Lena gets her son ready for school 
            She says now on these streets Charles 
            You got to understand the rules 
            If an officer stops you, promise me you’ll always be polite 
            And that you'll never, ever run away and promise mama you'll keep your hands in sight 

        2. Never assume that you know what I care or don't care about, Your Arrogance. We disagree on the justness of the verdict in the Michael Brown case. That doesn't mean you can generalize a  thing about what I think or feel.

          Tank or APC? Who cares? Use it to clear the streets in C-ville.
          What do you call this? I call it a tank. It's what the Osceola PD calls it, too.
          Below is what the Ferguson PD confronted protesters with in Ferguson. It is an APC. Jefferson County and DPD  have them, too.

          Regardless of what you call the equipment, police departments all over the country have access to these, through surplus military equipment grants.

          And they should be used to clear the streets of these paramilitary white racists in Charlottesville. That's the point .

           

          Who started the violence? Reports differ – and it doesn't matter now. Nobody's hands are clean (except for  the clergy and the 1000s of nonviolent protesters, and the press).

          In the Huffpo article I cited, you'd have to read past the first two paragraphs to the part where it describes Friday night's events. It starts, "Late Friday night…"and includes the sentence "Counter-protesters told HuffPost that some among their ranks were then hit with some type of irritant Friday night ― they claim it was Mace, unleashed by the white supremacists."

          I don't disagree with Washington Post – they usually get it right- but in a chaotic situation like this, there are multiple and contradictory reports. In the Wapo article you mentioned but did not provide a link to, alt right hero Richard Spencer "… said that counterprotesters attacked rallygoers but also acknowledged that “maybe someone threw a first punch on our side. Maybe that happened. I obviously didn’t see everything.”

          Yes, blue lives matter. My first post on here was about the heroism of a black police officer deployed to protect the KKK in Charlottesville. I sympathize with the plight of police and national guard troops in the civil war which DJT is trying to set up in our country.

          I wish your son well and hope he is safe. Never assume you know anything else nor presume to read my mind.

           

          1. To answer the question, that is an m113 armored personnel carrier.  It is a kind of battlefield taxi.  If it were a tank it would have much thicker armor and carry a cannon.   The difference is like calling an 18 wheeler a sports car.

            1. When a case such as michael brown's has been thoroughly investigated, twice, once by a black president and attorney general, and found to be a justified use of force, then to continue calling it murder is beyond stupidity, it is advocating the murder of innocent police offucers.  

              It's not a difference of opinion, as Park Hill and MJ suggest.  It is libel.  Words have meaning and murder is a judgment that can only be made by a jury, not some blowhard on a blog.

              Blue lives matter.  I mourn that two more innocent and brave men have fallen protecting our lives and our rights.

              1. Full stop. NOBODY on the left is advocating the murder of police officers – innocent or guilty.

                It's a different matter on the right however, The phrase "2nd amendment remedies" clearly advocates for violence against the government, which obviously includes the murder of police. That is not a dog-whistle – it's a bullhorn.

                To reduce the emotion. It takes effort but it is possible to put in place policing practices that greatly reduce the number of shootings.

                There was a great Public Radio spot this weekend about how Daytona Beach has reduced police shootings. Mostly, it is about training police on how to de-escalate and slow-down interactions. The first step, though was to recognize that racism permeates our society.

                1. If , "nobody" on the left is advocating murdering police, then why are police being murdered?  Did the five officers in Dallas just die from a mass hallucination?

                  And gangsta rap songs yelling " kill the pig" weren't written?  

                  To claim that every shooting of a black suspect is "murder" is, defacto, advocating killing cops in retaliation.

                  To continue referring to the twice ajudicated case of michael brown as murder is advocating murder of police.

                  It's actually worse.  The Justice department cleared the officer in brown's case.  But they were highly critical of the mayor, city council and city manager for ripping off citizens with nuisance fines as a revenue source.  Police have to carry out such policies, which ruin their relations with the community. But don't set those policies.

                  The knee-jerk "I don't care about facts, michael brown was murdered" hate speech is contemptible and ignores the real causes of the lamentable ferguson situation.

                    1. Obviously, not all cop killings are political but a string of murders, starting with the slaughter of five dallas officers but including several since, where the killer just walked up to a police car and cold-bloodedly killed the officer, are obvious assassinations.  I can't say is all gangsta rappers are violent leftists but obviously many are.  Any music that urges murder of police officers qualifies .

                1. They deployed one in Jeffco about 9 years ago. Man killed his wife and took his kids hostage, bunch of guns and explosives in the place, threatened to blow a hole in a residential neighborhood. The city put out reverse 911s for neighbors to get in the basement or stay indoors. I had no basement, and of course followed the police scanner radio avidly. 

                  I think they did a combination of flashbang grenades outside the house, and "talked him out" by negotiation. At any rate, he sent the kids out, eventually surrendered himself. They had some sort of special armored vehicle there, too, maybe had the negotiators talking from inside of it.  But it was the old-fashioned "talk him down" that worked, not the equipment.

  3. Additionally, can we all agree that the murder of one woman and injury of 19 more is the kind of hate crime/terrorism that warrants the death penalty?

        1. Nope, not an absolutist. I can think of several things where I would be fine with capital punishment. On Colorado's death row, I have no problem with the murderer who had witnesses in his murder trial killed. I would have no problem with that penalty for anyone in prison who killed — especially if they killed staff.

          And so far, this (alleged) perpetrator is being charged with 2nd degree murder. Add on the numerous assault charges and even civil rights violations, get a guilty plea or verdict, do the sentencing investigation and find reasons to escalate, find a judge who sentences consecutively, and he'll go away for a long, long time. But it doesn't rise to capital punishment levels, even in Virginia.

  4. I doubt this incident would shock their consciences. They might lie that it did, but this is the perfectly predictable result of the monumental political lies they tell on a daily basis to their supporters. 

    1. cook, DJT (or his aides)  really are slick about sneaking this crap through when the country's attention is elsewhere. Thanks for pulling that out.

      This would be just part of what the GOP hopes to accomplish in weakening Obamacare. From the article you cited, it looks like the DOJ has to OK it, but the ACLU and other organizations are challenging it in court. I can't see any judge allowing this new guidance to stand.

      When I think of myself, my family, and the women I know, most have either had an abortion, and/or have at some point in their lives been bisexual / lesbian. These new rules would allow a "religious" hospital to discriminate in treatment, or to refuse treatment.

      The implications for HIV positive and trans folk are ominous, too. Yeah – DJT is so fricking LGBT friendly……

      1. The photo that accompanied this story was that shot of him holding the Pride flag upside down with"LGBT" written on it in black Sharpie. Displaying a flag upside down is a distress signal and writing;on a flag (any flag) is disrespectful. That he didn’t know which way was up and that he would scribble on it to score cheap points ought to have told us all we needed to know about where his sympathies lie.

  6. Denver Post reports reactions to the Charlottesville demonstration & the violence. Gardner & Bennet tweet. DeGette, Perlmutter & Polis react. Coffman & Tipton react. 

    That leaves 2. A bit of searching and I found U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who also said the president should clarify his remarks. "If its an act of domestic terrorism then the president should call a spade a spade. Yes the president should call it like it is," Lamborn said.

    Paging Rep. Buck — Sunday morning, he tweeted the generalization:

    2 hours ago

    White supremacists are ignorant and hateful. All Americans must unite against racial intolerance and bigoted ideology.

     

    So, all Colorado Senators and Representatives present and accounted for.

  7. Horrible title, Pols::: this shocked our conscience, not theirs. Do they have one? Did they not expect this?

    Do not doubt that Right Wing Media will blame Obama, Democrats, "Leftists", Do-Gooders and every hour of talk radio blasting through our airwaves will amplify the other. Prager and Beck and Hannity and that Fat Fucking Pig Limbaugh and Rosen and Caldara and Savage are the Lying Enemies of Democracy and run their lies nearly 24 hours a day in this part of the world.

  9. This a crisis for the White House.  The rest of humanity has weighed in on these groups and found them disgusting.  They are at their shining zenith.  There aren't any social groups of value that will align with them.  Trump nutured them and let them believe that they are important.  Let him tell them that the person of color is never going to be a slave again.  Not going to happen.  History moves forward.  They are the past.  Whatever violence they do now it is but a wraith rattling chains in the night.

  11. And, of course, our sad fat cuck of a president ran from that bill signing ceremony like a scalded dog rather than say anything negative about his buds in the neo-Nazi movement.

    To paraphrase John Oliver, Nazis are kinda like cats; if they like you, it's probably because you're feeding them.

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