Tag: Jason Kessler

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Coronavirus News

In brief: Happy (socially distanced) graduation, Memorial Day, and more

Joslyn Grimes (center) poses for a picture with her family after graduating at Albemarle High School on Saturday, May 23, 2020. Students filtered into the parking lot in five-minute intervals to experience the modified ceremony due to social distancing guidelines. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Rad grads

Charlottesville’s 2020 high school graduates imagined they’d be walking across a grand stage right about now, with “Pomp and Circumstance” blaring as an auditorium applauded. That’s gone, of course, but the virus hasn’t stopped our schools from showing love for their seniors. Districts around town have held variations on the traditional graduation ceremony, providing graduates with a chance to do more than just fling their caps toward the family’s living room ceiling.

Although school was originally scheduled to run through June 5, county schools decided to end “remote learning” on May 22, and held graduation events this week. At Albemarle High, students could make an appointment to walk across a tented, outdoor stage and receive a diploma while families and photographers looked on.

In the city, where lessons are (at least theoretically) continuing for the next two weeks, Charlottesville High put on a “victory lap” event—students donned their caps and gowns and drove around the school with their families, while teachers and staff stood by the roadside hollering congratulations and holding signs. The lap concluded at the front of the school, where graduates walked across the “stage” and received their diplomas. On the originally scheduled graduation day, the school will stream a congratulatory video, featuring footage from the victory laps.

In the past, most of the area’s public high schools have held their ceremonies at the John Paul Jones Arena. This year’s celebrations are far less grand, but they show the creativity, resilience, and sense of humor required in this moment—and they’re certainly as memorable as a valedictory address.

______________________

Quote of the Week

“I’ll tell you what—I think it’s been a spectacular success.”

—Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer on Memorial Day weekend. According to the city’s police, there were no major social distancing
violations on the area’s jam-packed beaches.

______________________ 

In brief

Pay up

The neo-Nazis who helped organize Unite the Right have, unsurprisingly, behaved poorly throughout the ensuing court case against them. On Monday, three defendants in Sines v. Kessler were ordered to pay $41,300 as a penalty for violating orders to turn over evidence related to the case, reports Integrity First for America, the organization backing the suit. Earlier this year, defendant Elliot Kline was charged with contempt of court and faced jail time as a result. The case is ongoing.

In the hole

After furloughing more than 600 employees with little notice, UVA Health System executives provided staff with more information on the institution’s deficit of $85 million per month. In a virtual meeting between School of Medicine faculty and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Craig Kent earlier this month, Kent explained that the health system had a budget margin for this past year “of essentially zero” and had low reserves compared to other institutions, reported The Daily Progress. Naming several other money troubles, Kent admitted the institution hasn’t “run very efficiently over the years,” and promised it would make major financial changes.

Goodbye generals?

Years of debate (and violence) over the city’s infamous Confederate statues could soon come to an end. Four days after Governor Ralph Northam signed bills allowing localities to remove or alter Confederate monuments last month, Charlottesville City Manager Tarron Richardson told City Council via email that he would like to hold 2-2-1 meetings to discuss the removal of the Lee and Jackson statues, reported The Daily Progress. Richardson asked for the meetings, which would not have to be open to the public, to be held after council approves the city’s fiscal 2021 budget, which is expected to happen next month.

Hydroxy hoax

In a Sunday interview with “Full Measure,” President Trump admitted he was no longer taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug he claimed could prevent or treat coronavirus, despite mounting scientific evidence to the contrary. Just last week, he dismissed the findings of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and UVA, which concluded that the drug had a higher overall mortality rate for coronavirus patients in Veterans Administration hospitals, calling it “a Trump enemy statement.” Trump has yet to apologize for those remarks, still claiming in the interview that “hydroxy” has had “tremendous, rave reviews.”

Respectful distance

With social-distancing regulations in place, traditional ceremonies were off limits this Memorial Day, but some locals still found ways to commemorate the holiday. An enormous American flag floated over the 250 Bypass, thanks to the fire department, and residents showed up at the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial to pay their respects throughout the day, including a trumpet player who joined in a nationally coordinated playing of “Taps.”

Frozen out

Laid off workers looking for a new position amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic won’t have an easy time of it, as several of the city’s major employers—including the City of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, and Albemarle County Public Schools— have announced hiring freezes. Among the positions on hold in city government are the heads of the departments of Parks & Recreation and Public Works (both currently being run by interim directors), along with traffic supervisor, centralized safety coordinator, and others.

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In brief: A12 legal guide, big-ticket sale, pet peril and more

Former Charlottesville police chief Al Thomas is named in several lawsuits stemming from the events of August 12, 2017. Eze Amos

Who’s suing whom

In advance of the two-year statute of limitations, a flurry of lawsuits have been filed stemming from the events of August 12, 2017, adding to several that are ongoing. Having a hard time keeping up with who’s a defendant and who’s a plaintiff?  Here’s a primer:

Sines v. Kessler

Ten victims of the Unite the Right rally, including Seth Wispelwey, Tyler Magill and Marcus Martin, filed suit against 24 UTR organizers, including Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer, James Fields, Elliott Kline, Chris Cantwell, Matthew Heimbach, David Parrott, and Andrew Anglin. It’s the oldest lawsuit filed, filed October 11, 2017.

In addition to filing another federal lawsuit against the city, Jason Kessler is also a defendant in other suits filed by Unite the Right victims. Eze Amos

Kessler v. City of Charlottesville

Kessler and David Parrott are suing City Manager Tarron Richardson, former police chief Al Thomas, Virginia State Police Lieutenant Becky Crannis-Curl, and former city manager Maurice Jones, claiming their First Amendment rights were violated. kessler v. charlottesville

Tanesha Hudson v. City of Charlottesville

The community activist claims Maurice Jones, Al Thomas, Detective James Mooney, Sergeant Ronnie Stayments, and Sergeant Lee Gibson violated her First, Fifth, and 14th amendment rights and seeks $400,000. Filed pro se, which means she’s representing herself, in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

DeAndre Harris v. Jason Kessler et. al.

The 35 defendants include Richard Spencer, six attackers, Elliott Kline, David Parrott, and John Doe 1 and 2 (aka Sunglasses and Redbeard). Harris, who was severely beaten in the Market Street Parking Garage, is alleging  conspiracy to discriminate and attack on the basis of race. DeAndre Harris v. Kessler, Spencer et.al

Greg Conte v. Commonwealth of Virginia

Richard Spencer pal Conte and UTR attendee Warren Balogh named the VSP, former governor Terry McAuliffe, VSP Lieutenant Becky Crannis-Curl, Al Thomas, Mike Signer, Wes Bellamy, Emily Gorcenski, Seth Wispelwey, and Dwayne Dixon among the 16 defendants, and alleged First and 14th amendment violations. Also filed pro se. conte, balogh v. VA

Bill Burke v. James Fields et. al.

Bill Burke waits for the jury’s verdict at the James Fields trial. staff photo

The 19 named defendants include Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer, Matthew Heimbach, David Duke, Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin, plus John Doe and Jane Doe 1-1,000. Burke traveled from Ohio to protest the white supremacists who came to Charlottesville. He was injured when Fields drove into a crowd, and Heather Heyer died beside him. Claims RICO violations and conspiracy, and seeks $3 million on each count. burke v. fields

Karen Cullen and Amanda Bates v. Commonwealth of Virginia

The widows of Virginia State Police’s Berke Bates and Jay Cullen, who died in a helicopter crash August 12, both filed wrongful death lawsuits seeking $50 million each.

 

Quote of the week

“The temperature at the floor when they entered was 500 degrees.”—Charlottesville Fire Chief Andrew Baxter describes the August 18 Pet Paradise fire

In brief

$4-million sale

Hawes Spencer, former editor of C-VILLE and the Hook, sold the Downtown Mall building that houses Bizou for $4 million to Bizou owner Vincent Derquenne and developer Oliver Kuttner, who purchased the property as Walters Building LLC. Spencer bought the building, which housed the Hook offices, for $2.5 million in 2006.

Elliott Harding. publicity photo

Slimed by Kessler

Independent 25th District candidate Elliott Harding’s brief association with Jason Kessler came to light last week when Kessler posted messages from Harding, who reviewed Kessler’s petition to recall Wes Bellamy in 2017. Harding, a former chair of the Albemarle County Republican Committee, says he quickly saw what Kessler was about and has worked to prevent him from gaining a platform. “We’ve been at it ever since.”

Another statue suit

Norfolk, fighting to remove its own Confederate statue, filed a federal lawsuit arguing that Virginia’s law preventing a locality from removing a war memorial is unconstitutional and forces the city to perpetuate a message it no longer stands behind, violating its First and 14th amendment rights, the Virginian-Pilot reports. City councilors are also plaintiffs in the suit.

‘Hitler’s best friends’

Two weeks after city councilors were accused of aligning themselves with the Nazi dictator for rejecting a proposal to bring D.C. rapper Wale to Charlottesville, Kathy Galvin, Mike Signer, Heather Hill, and Wes Bellamy issued a joint statement condemning the “abusive environment” created by some attendees of council meetings. Bellamy also apologized for not initially defending his colleagues, saying “I genuinely don’t believe any of you are racist.”

Fatal infection

German shepherd Gunner died after a day of swimming in the Rivanna River, NBC29 reports. He contracted a bacterial disease called leptospirosis, which is transmitted in wet places where animals have urinated and can be deadly to humans as well.

More bad pet news

A fire broke out in Pet Paradise around 6:30pm August 18. Seventy-five animals were rescued from the Concord Avenue facility, but Pet Paradise is asking for help in locating two cats and a dog that were missing after the fire.

Beauregard splits 

Interim Deputy City Manager Leslie Beauregard is leaving after 16 years working in city government and will take a position as assistant city manager in Staunton October 7, the DP reports. Beauregard was best known for her budget work. She was put in an interim position under new City Manager Tarron Richardson’s reorganization of city hall.

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In brief: Surviving the anniversary, unfinished A12 legal business, another contender, and more

First Baptist Church was the scene for August 12 reflection and moving forward—as it was two years ago. Amy Jackson

Forward together

It was a full house at First Baptist Church on West Main Street on August 12, as a diverse crowd gathered for an interfaith service. “It fills my heart to see the pews filled like this,” said deacon Don Gathers. “We’ve come together not because of what happened, but in spite of it.”

A promised appearance by several presidential candidates fell through, after Cory Booker returned to New Jersey to deal with a water crisis, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had asked to speak at the service but been denied, canceled at the last minute.

The service, which echoed similar gatherings held at the church after the violence in 2017 and on the first anniversary last year, was full of music, prayers, and reflection. It also featured testimony from August 12, 2017, survivors and faith leaders.

Activist Tanesha Hudson, a Charlottesville native, said activists of color had sometimes been left behind, and urged everyone to put action behind their conversations. “The world is watching Charlottesville, so how we recover is going to lay down the blueprint for how the world recovers.”

Marisa Blair and Courtney Commander, who were with their friend Heather Heyer when she died, said the anniversary had been harder than expected, but Blair said she wanted to talk about love. “Be kind. Be gentle. You don’t know what anyone else is facing.”

Presbyterian leader Jill Duffield spoke about living in Charleston, South Carolina, when a white supremacist gunman murdered nine people at the Emanuel AME church, but said it had taken the events in Charlottesville to make her understand the prevalence of white supremacist violence.

And Rabbi Tom Gutherz, of Congregation Beth Israel, addressed the long history of anti-Semitism, calling it “the glue that holds white supremacy together.” The son of a Holocaust survivor, he acknowledged that Jewish people in America have also been privileged. “I may have been surprised,” he said of the violence in Charlottesville, “but African Americans have always known it.”

He exhorted the audience to “be a resister, and not a bystander,” and said, “I believe that we will find a way forward together.” 

Clockwise from top left: Don Gathers, Sarah Kelley and Michael Cheuk, Tanesha Hudson, Tom Gutherz, Marissa Blair and Courtney Commander, and Jill Duffield were among those who spoke at First Baptist Church August 12. Amy Jackson

Quote of the week

“You literally have to love the hell out of people.”—Marissa Blair, survivor of the August 12, 2017, car attack

In brief

Kessler refiles

Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler took to the federal courts—again—on the second anniversary of the deadly rally in Charlottesville to sue the city and its officials for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights in August 2017. Kessler and co-plaintiff David Parrott claim police allowed a heckler’s veto to suppress their exercise of free speech by not stopping the fights that led to an unlawful assembly.

Hudson sues, too

Another civil suit was filed August 12, this one by local activist Tanesha Hudson. The lawsuit claims Hudson was denied her First, Fifth, and 14th Amendment rights when she joined Jehovah’s Witnesses counterprotesting at the Unite the Right rally. She’s seeking $400,000 in damages.

Fourth Street petition

City resident Aileen Bartels wants the mall crossing at Fourth Street closed and is circulating a petition to do so, a move unpopular with many downtown businesses, NBC29 reports. Bartels, whose petition had 325 signatures at press time, contends the crossing is a “serious safety hazard” for pedestrians on the mall, and notes the notoriety of the place where James Fields drove his car into a crowd, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.

Another challenger

A UVA doctor will run against Denver Riggleman for the 5th District congressional seat. Cameron Webb, who practices and teaches at UVA, lives in Albemarle. He says he’s going to focus on improving access to affordable health care. He joins R.D. Huffstetler and Fauquier lawyer Kim Daugherty in seeking the Dem nomination.

Screwdriver killing

A jury found Gerald Francis Jackson, 61, guilty August 7 of voluntary manslaughter in the slaying of his neighbor, Richard Wayne Edwards, 55, in his Cherry Street apartment. A jury recommended a sentence of 10 years in prison.

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Neo-Nazi group admits A12 liability and Kessler drops suit

Jeff Schoep, longtime head of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, says he’s still in charge. AP Images for the Southern Poverty Law Center

The National Socialist Movement, a defendant in a post-Unite the Right lawsuit, made a bizarre shift when its former leader signed over the organization to black civil rights activist James Hart Stern, who then filed a motion admitting liability for the neo-Nazi group.

The complaint, Sines v. Kessler, alleges that the 25 white supremacist defendants who showed up in Charlottesville August 12, 2017, conspired to commit violence. California resident Stern filed a motion for summary judgment in federal court February 28 “based on the truth of all statements made in plaintiffs’ complaint against defendant National Socialist Movement being true.”

Stern says he took over the group February 15 and does not hold the values of the neo-Nazi organization. The motion “rights a wrong that is over 25 years coming,” he says in the court filing.

Jeff Schoep, who has run the organization since 1994 and who is named individually as a defendant in the case, told the Washington Post that Stern “deceived” him when he convinced Schoep to sign over the NSM presidency.

According to Stern, Schoep called his neo-Nazi org an “albatross hanging around his neck” and was worried about the cost of the lawsuit.

It’s not the first time Stern has convinced a white supremacist to give him control: Stern was doing time for wire fraud in Mississippi and former KKK grand wizard Edgar Ray Killen, who was convicted of killing three civil rights workers in 1964, was his cellmate, the Post reports. Killen signed over his life story and power of attorney to Stern, who dissolved that Killen’s Klan in 2016.

And in another lawsuit involving some of the same players, attorney Elmer Woodard filed a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by Jason Kessler and the National Socialists and Traditional Workers Party against former police chief Al Thomas and Virginia State Police Lieutenant Becky Cranniss-Curl for not protecting their First and 14th Amendment rights August 12.

 

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Too much love: Apology for unwanted hug settles Kessler case

Jason Kessler claimed Phoebe Stevens assaulted him when she wrapped her arms around him to protect him from an angry mob at his August 13, 2017, press conference. Photo by Eze Amos

Phoebe Stevens is a pacifist.

She says that’s why she wrapped her arms around Jason Kessler at his August 13, 2017, press conference as a crowd of angry protesters closed in on him. But after she knocked him down in the chaos, he accused her of assault and battery—a charge she was convicted of in Charlottesville General District Court a year ago.

Stevens appealed the conviction, and was scheduled to go to trial on February 14. Before a jury was seated, however, her defense team and the prosecutor reached a special agreement: If Stevens apologized, agreed to do 100 hours of community service, and stayed on good behavior for six months, her charge would be dismissed.

That’s when her attorney, Jay Galloway, walked her over to Kessler, who was seated in the front row of the nearly empty courtroom.

“I apologize for putting my arms around you,” Stevens said, to which Kessler harshly responded, “What about [tackling] me, do you apologize for that?”

During the Unite the Right rally, Stevens could be found using her body to shield counterprotesters and white supremacists alike, and in recordings of the alleged tackle, she can also be heard saying, “We love you, Jason.”

“I apologize for making you feel like you were tackled,” she then told Kessler in the courtroom.

“That’s not a real apology,” he replied.

At that point, Galloway said Stevens was not going to engage any further. A few feet outside the courthouse, in her lawyer’s Park Street office, Stevens gave a brief interview, in which she noted it was Valentine’s Day.

“It’s not missed by me that my date today was Jason Kessler,” she said.

Over the past year and a half, Stevens said she’s heard many opinions on her choice to embrace the man who brought hundreds of white supremacists to town for an event that ended in countless injuries and three deaths.

“We’re all human,” Stevens said. “I know the crowd would not have agreed with me, and my visceral self would have battled me on that, too. [But] when we step back, there’s a human there.”

She says she has forgiven Kessler for accusing her of assaulting him and for his behavior during her apology.

“He is incredibly clouded in his understanding of the world and how to remedy this situation,” Stevens added. “He’s a deeply disturbed individual.”

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Beyond the statues: Councilor’s book explores Confederate monument backlash

City Councilor Wes Bellamy spoke candidly about Confederate statues, the controversy over his old tweets, and the effect his career has had on his family. Photo by Mina Pirasteh

By Jonathan Haynes

City Councilor Wes Bellamy sat down for a revelatory interview at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center January 10 to promote his new book, Monumental: It Was Never About a Statue.

The title alludes to the former vice-mayor’s push to remove Confederate monuments from Charlottesville parks, and the racist backlash it inspired, which culminated in the August 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally. “If it’s just about the statues, people aren’t going to kill you,” he said. “People don’t drive a car into a group of people over the removal of a statue.”

Andrea Copeland-Whitsett, director of member education services for the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce, conducted the interview. She began by addressing the derogatory remarks Bellamy had tweeted about women, white people, and the LGBTQ community between 2009 and 2014, and the outrage that erupted when the tweets resurfaced in November 2016.

Bellamy called the tweets “something evil-inspired,” and described his personal experience of the scandal for the first time. He was spending Thanksgiving in Atlanta with his wife when he got a call from a blocked number. According to Bellamy, the voice said, “Hey n—-r, we’re going to break you down. This is Trump’s country now.” Then he received another call from his office letting him know that his old tweets had been sent to City Council and local press.

He could hardly believe they were from his account. “I was so far past that [kind of attitude],” he said.

Come Monday, “a tsunami hit.” Friends and allies turned their backs on him. Then-governor Terry McAuliffe publicly denounced him. He was devastated. Though he remained on City Council, he resigned from his positions at Albemarle High School and on the Virginia Board of Education.

Ultimately, he said, the experience was humbling. “I used to walk around thinking I was a hero. It was a very necessary lesson to me that I am not.”

Bellamy’s tweets were dug up by Jason Kessler, who organized the Unite the Right rally the following year.

The movement to remove the city’s Confederate monuments is often presented as Bellamy’s idea. But he gives credit to Mayor Nikuyah Walker and local high school activist Zyahna Bryant, who drafted the original petition asking City Council to remove the statues and rename Lee Park.

Bryant contacted him after McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would protect Confederate monuments in March 2016. “You can remove the statue,” she told him.

He teamed up with then-councilor Kristin Szakos, who had been publicly questioning the presence of Confederate monuments, and calling on the city to end its celebration of Lee-Jackson Day.

When Bellamy and Szakos held a press conference, he began to fear for his safety. Staring down “a sea of individuals” bearing Confederate flags and shouting, “I was concerned someone was going to shoot me,” he said. Afterwards, Bellamy began receiving death threats on a daily basis, and “would hear loud beats on the back window” of his home after midnight.

It wasn’t about the statue, he said. “People believed we were going to change what was theirs, that this is their community.”

Though his tenure in office has been tumultuous, Bellamy professed an unremitting love for Charlottesville, praising local residents for coming together to confront racial inequities. There are other cities that have the same issues, he said, “but we’re really willing to talk about it.”

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In brief: Farmington fracas, scooter-ville, white supremacists’ lawsuit and more

Fox News' Tucker Carlson wanted to beat a man whom he alleges called his 19-year-old daughter a "whore" at Farmington Country Club. Gage Skidmore

Farmington feud

Farmington Country Club revoked Juan Manuel Granados’ membership following his spat with Tucker Carlson, who has admitted that his son threw wine in Granados’ face. Granados, represented by celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, is now threatening legal action. It won’t be the first time: Granados reportedly successfully sued the Roanoke Athletic Club for revoking a family membership from him, his partner, and his daughter because it didn’t recognize gay couples with children as a family.

Quote of the week

“It took enormous self-control not to beat this man with a chair, which is what I wanted to do.”—Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a statement on an encounter with a man who allegedly called his daughter a “whore” at Farmington Country Club in October

Knock ’em all down

The two statues that grace West Main Street are of westward-looking explorers, men of the frontier. The Meriwether Lewis and William Clark sculpture at the Ridge-McIntire intersection features Albemarle-native Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who served as guide during the 1803-1806 expedition up the Missouri River to the Pacific. Another piece from the hands of Charles Keck, it was dedicated in 1921 and has been the source of controversy due to its depiction of Sacajawea crouching behind the men. A plaque commemorating her contributions was added to the monument in 2009. Photo: Rammelkamp Foto
Rammelkamp Foto

In case you haven’t had enough statue drama, Mayor Nikuyah Walker is now advocating for the removal of the Lewis and Clark monument on West Main Street. It shows the two explorers standing pompously over a cowering Sacagawea, though they actually have the Shoshone woman to thank for showing them the way. A plaque commemorating Sacagawea’s role was added about a decade ago after a previous effort to have the statue removed.

Haters want protection, too

Jason Kessler and white supremacist groups Identity Evropa, National Socialist Movement, and Traditionalist Worker Party are suing the city, former city police chief Al Thomas, and Virginia State Police Sergeant Becky Crannis-Curl for allegedly violating their First and Fourteenth amendment rights by failing to protect them during the first Unite the Right rally.

Human remains found on parkway

The John Warner Parkway trail was closed November 8 after human remains were found. The identity of the body, which is with the medical examiner’s office, is unknown.

Ready or not, here they come

Getty Images

City Council unanimously approved a “dockless mobility” pilot program last week, meaning people on electric scooters will soon be zooming around town. But similar programs haven’t worked out well for surrounding cities.

“Electronic scooters introduce a mode of transportation that address what many refer to as the ‘first mile’ and ‘last mile’ problem,” says Vice-Mayor Heather Hill, for short trips that don’t merit driving, but are beyond a short walk.

Scooter drivers will download an app onto their smartphones and unlock the two-wheeler by scanning its code with their phones. Most companies charge a $1 unlocking fee, and an additional 20 cents per minute, according to the proposal.

The city hasn’t announced which brand it’s contracting with yet, but popular scooter company Bird has already set up shop in Richmond and Harrisonburg.

In the former, the city’s Department of Public Works almost immediately impounded as many scooters as it could because they encroached on the public right of way, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. And in the latter, a student has started a petition to get them banned.

“As the ride-sharing company dumped hundreds of scooters in various locations across our city, they left us to decide where we leave them,” writes petitioner Nathan Childs. “The decent thing to think is, ‘Oh, a bike rack will do just fine,’ or ‘I definitely shouldn’t leave this in the middle of the sidewalk.’ However, these scooters have brought out the worst in us.”

Scooters are required to follow certain parking restrictions, but “they can be knocked over, moved, or just incorrectly parked,” according to the proposal presented to City Council.

Adds Childs, “I have stumbled over several littered Birds, dodged countless oblivious riders, and moved too many scooters out of the way. If anything, we don’t deserve Bird scooters because of how we treat property that anyone can use but for which no one is responsible.”

Says Hill about the new fleet of approximately 200 scooters coming to town this month, “What remains to be seen is if there is a strong enough need in a city of Charlottesville’s size, and the impact dockless scooters and bikes have on the quality of life along our city streets.”

By the numbers

Room for improvement

Nationwide, voter turnout in the 2018 election was the highest in a midterm election in half a century, according to the Associated Press. In Charlottesville and Albemarle, participation shot up by more than 20 points compared to the 2014 midterms. But that still lags behind turnout in a presidential election. In the end, more than 30 percent of voters didn’t cast a ballot for who is going to represent them in Congress.

Charlottesville turnout

  • 2018 midterms 67%
  • 2016 presidential election 78%
  • 2014 midterms 41%

Albemarle

  • 2018 midterms 68%
  • 2016 presidential election 74%
  • 2014 midterms 46%
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Found guilty: Theologian banned from UVA for life appeals decision

Anti-racist activist Eric Martin was found guilty of trespassing in UVA’s law library, where he entered and refused to leave a private room where Jason Kessler was studying. He’s appealing the conviction. Contributed photo

When about 40 protesters gathered at the University of Virginia School of Law library April 25 to chase off Jason Kessler, one man was arrested—and it wasn’t the one who brought hundreds of torch-wielding white supremacists to Grounds.

Eric Martin, a local activist and theologian, entered the private room where Kessler was studying, sat down, and quietly began reading The Rise and Fall of Apartheid. On October 2, Judge William Barkley found Martin guilty of trespassing and sentenced him to 30 days in jail, with all of the time suspended on the condition of two years of good behavior. He has also been banned from UVA for life.

Martin says he entered the room because he and the other protesters were unsure whether university officials were providing a safe space for Kessler.

“I just thought it would help clarify the status—does he have a private office or not?” Martin told C-VILLE in May. “And the second thing I thought was, ‘Hold up. They had eight months to protect their students by barring this white supremacist who brought people that maced and beat students and beat one of the librarians into a stroke.’”

A Charlottesville police officer and Stephen Parr, the law school’s chief administrative officer, asked Martin to leave the private librarian’s room. When Martin politely declined, as heard on a police body cam video shown in court, he was arrested for trespassing and removed in handcuffs.

Martin has appealed his conviction, and a trial date will be set in December, according to his attorney, Bruce Williamson.

“You don’t go to courtrooms for any kind of justice,” said Bill Streit, Martin’s friend, supporter, and fellow theologian, outside the courthouse. “If we lived in a just society, there would be no racism. White supremacy would be reconciled by justice.”

Kessler, meanwhile, has been banned from Grounds for four years.

In other white supremacy-related court news, Tyler Davis, the Florida man accused of participating in the August 12, 2017, Market Street Parking Garage beating of DeAndre Harris, pleaded not guilty to malicious wounding in Charlottesville Circuit Court on October 4. He’ll go to trial in February, while two others who participated in the beating have already been found guilty and are serving six and eight year sentences.

And Baltimore-based KKK leader Richard Preston was in the same courtroom that day, to request new counsel for an appeal.

In May, Preston pleaded no contest and was found guilty of firing a gun within 1,000 feet of a school on the day of the Unite the Right rally, when Corey Long famously pointed an improvised flamethrower in the vicinity of the Klansman. Both men claimed to be acting in self-defense, and Preston was sentenced to four years in prison.

In entering the no contest plea, Preston waived all rights to an appeal, says legal expert David Heilberg. However, if Preston wants to object to the advice he received from his lawyer, he has to exhaust the state appeals process first before he can file a habeas petition to complain about the legal representation he got.

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In brief: Category 4, $1 penalty, Foxfield continued and more

photo NASA

Florence and the rain machine

Charlottesville was relatively unscathed from last year’s big hurricanes: Harvey and Category 5s Irma and Maria. But as stock brokers often warn, past performance is not indicative of future results. And the warnings for Hurricane Florence, currently a Category 4 and still days away at press time, are catastrophic.

Governor Ralph Northam issued a state of emergency September 10, and ordered mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas of Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore. Governors of both North Carolina, which sits squarely in Florence’s current path, and South Carolina have also ordered coastal evacuations.

It’s the projected rainfall that has many nervous after heavy rains in May caused flash flooding and took the lives of two Albemarle residents. Charlottesville already is 12 inches above average, with over 41 inches of rain as of September 10, according to Weather Underground. At press time, the National Hurricane Center has Charlottesville mapped to receive 10 inches of rain from Florence.

More preliminary reports: Some bottled water shortages have already appeared, and expect gas prices to go up.

Quote of the week

“When you vote, you’ve got the power to make sure white nationalists don’t feel emboldened to march with their hoods off or their hoods on in Charlottesville in the middle of the day.”—Former President Barack Obama on the midterm campaign trail September 7 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

In brief

Two officers shot

Gunfire at Hardy Drive September 8 left three men wounded, including two officers who responded to reports of shots at 8:43pm, and Timothy Lamont Miles, 27, who was charged with attempted capital murder and felon with a gun. Miles, who is known to police, has a lengthy rap sheet that includes a history of brandishing firearms, burglary, multiple assaults, resisting arrest, and multiple other charges.

 

Paying the price

In February, a jury found Jeff Winder guilty of assaulting Jason Kessler at his August 13, 2017, press conference in front of City Hall. The alleged assaulter appealed the conviction, and was found guilty again last week, when a new jury fined him $1 for slugging the man who planned the Unite the Right rally. Afterward, an outpouring of people asked on social media if they could also punch Kessler for a buck.

‘Monumental change needed’

A new billboard in town, paid for by the Make It Right Project, supports anti-racist activists in their attempt to have Confederate statues removed. It’s neighbors with another East High Street signboard that glorifies “Stonewall” Jackson, and was paid for by the Virginia Flaggers.

Crozet train crash lawsuit

The father of Dennis “DJ” Eddy, who had been working for Time Disposal a short time when an Amtrak train slammed into the garbage truck in which he was a passenger and killed him, filed a $10 million lawsuit against CSX, which owns the track, and Buckingham Branch, which operates it. Multiple people have said there were frequent problems with the crossing arm.

CFA layoffs

CFA Institute, an international association for investment professionals that renovated the former Martha Jefferson Hospital and made it its headquarters in 2014, laid off 31 employees in Charlottesville and New York, according to NBC29. The employees received severance packages and were encouraged to apply for 50 open positions, many in Charlottesville.

 

The fight over Foxfield continues

Parties in a lawsuit over whether the Garth Road property that’s home to the Foxfield Races can be sold for development expected a judge to make a decision September 11.

At the hearing in Albemarle Circuit Court, more than a dozen horse racing fans had green stickers on their lapels that featured a cartoon fox and said, “Save Foxfield Races.”

Instead of reaching a decision, Judge Cheryl Higgins took motions under advisement. She asked for more evidence from attorneys defending the Foxfield Racing Association, which now owns the property and wants to sell it, and from those representing seven Albemarle residents with connections to the races who are fighting the potential sale.

The plaintiffs say the original landowner, Mariann S. de Tejada, said in her will that the land should remain intact in perpetuity for the races. The Foxfield Racing Association argues that de Tejada didn’t specifically state the creation of a trust for the property.

Higgins said she isn’t able to determine whether there’s a trust that would prevent the sale, and also suggested a settlement between the parties.

“Our objective is to protect the Foxfield Races—if not by a settlement, then by a continuation of the lawsuit,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Hurd said outside the courthouse. He also said he’s “happy to” dig up more evidence to prove an intended trust.

Categories
Opinion

History matters: ‘Something wicked this way comes’

After seeing the Charlottesville Players Guild’s Black Mac, A UVA music professor was reminded of the importance of creative outlets for all children, no matter the color of their skin. Photo by Tristan Williams

By Bonnie Gordon

For almost two years, Charlottesville has felt like Act IV, Scene 1 of Macbeth. So when I saw Black Mac, a radically black take on Shakespeare’s play about the violent hauntings of the past, it felt like a staging of collective memory, trauma, power, and space.

Directed by 23-year-old black Oberlin student Ti Ames, the production, with 11 black actors and actresses, put in counterpoint black vernacular and Shakespearean language.

Here in #Charlottesville, before the anniversary of the violent Unite the Right rally, it was impossible not to witness Black Mac and think that, for all his theatrical and operatic knowledge, Richard Spencer (a music major during his time at UVA who worked in German opera houses) could only borrow props, words, and gestures from the distant past. His attempt at staging Charlottesville was hollow and unoriginal. Black Mac’s mostly very young cast and their audience have, indeed, replaced you.

And it was hard not to think that Jason Kessler sounds like Macbeth with a life that is a “tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury / signifying nothing.”

Missing, all too often from national media photos and stories about Charlottesville and of bigotry and evil (because that’s what it is) are stories of resistance, of powerful black institutions, and of creative power.

That’s the story of this production, and especially the place where it occurred, which insists that history matters not just when it’s violent and familiar, but also when it’s quiet and sustained—a long tone.

Black Mac occurred in the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, a space that has been a spiritual center for the African American community here for more than 125 years and is one of the few buildings that remained standing after the city demolished a thriving black community called Vinegar Hill.

It’s easy these days to know that in 1924 the Robert E. Lee statue (which last year’s rally was never about) was dedicated in a ceremony to the Confederate Lost Cause, photographs of which eerily resemble the assemblages of white nationalists we saw here last year. But more importantly in 1924, black Charlottesville parents petitioned the school board for a black high school.

While the Jefferson School had had a theater program from 1895 through the 1950s, the arts in Charlottesville remain a devastatingly segregated arena, and it starts with our children.

The night I saw Black Mac, the audience was small—38 people. But many of those people have worked to make sure all kids in this racist town have access to creative practice. These people and the institutions they run may not make the national news, but they matter.

“Something wicked this way comes.” If wicked means bad and violent, then the wicked something comes from the horrific hate unleashed by Donald Trump. Many writers have already had fun with Trump as Macbeth, a guy whose heinous narcissistic ambitions never let him admit defeat or fear even when the evidence shows otherwise. “I cannot taint with fear,” says MacTrump.

Macbeth takes advice from witches who stir up a mixture of paranoia and hate of the other that knows no bounds. Trump stirs up Central American kids in detention centers. He hates and fears the other so much that apparently he doesn’t mind killing its young.

But if “wicked” is something linked to magic, then we can find here and in many other spaces amazing powers of resistance and resilience. We saw that kind of wicked on this surreal anniversary weekend when the white nationalist theater of hate was replaced by a police state theater of the absurd.

Bonnie Gordon is a music professor at UVA.