Remember That This Happened.

Nine years ago on August 11th, 2017 over one hundred white nationalists, nazis and other racists marched from Nameless Field on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, VA.

The tiki torch lit march was not announced publicly like the Unite the Rally, which was planned to occur the next morning. I found out about thanks to another journalists connections with anti-fascist groups that were working to uncover and warn people about the Unite the Right rally. Later it would be revealed that University police had been in discussion with white supremacist group Identity Evropa and it’s leader Eli Mosley.

Arriving at Nameless Field (that is the fields actual name) I found marchers filling store bought torches with citronella scented fuel out of the back of their cars. The entire parking lot smelled like citronella, I remember finding it darkly comical.

At the march was white supremacist Richard Spencer, Eli Mosley and many other leaders of far right hate groups.

As they marched in line they chanted “You will not replace us” and “Jews will not replace us.”

As they descended to the statue of Thomas Jefferson that peaceful anti-fascists protesters were encircling the marchers attacked them with pepper spray and even throwing their torches like spears.

Police stood on the outside watching the attacks happen, eventually clearly everyone from the area around the statue.

Multiple people walked away severely injured from the brawl that ensued. Fellow journalists and myself seriously discussed if the planned Unite the Right rally would even be allowed to occur after the chaos and ferocity of the torch march. It did of course, as law enforcement and local leadership were committed to making sure that the Nazis had their day in the park.

I apologize for the lack of newsletters these past couple weeks. I’ve been going through some mental health shit. Also dealing with my lawsuit and dealing with trying to find sustainable income so I can keep doing journalism. I hope I can get a lot more regular on posting in the next couple weeks.

For more reading on the Unite the Right Rally I can’t recommend Molly Conger’s incredible work. Read her previous threads of journalism on Twitter, but she mainly posts on BlueSky now. She also has an absolutely incredible podcast called Weird Little Guys.

molly conger@socialistdogmom

you probably remember this photograph. it's one of the more iconic of the awful images of the nazi torch march at UVA on august 11, 2017. on august 12, the man in the center was elated to see himself on the cover of papers across the county. today, i can tell you he is dead.

6:02 PM · Feb 14, 2023 · 15.8M Views

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