Posted on 08/13/2017 10:08:46 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
I am not a writer but will do the best I can. I arrived about 10:30ish. Was actually surprised that I was able to find a parking space relatively close to Lee Park. In fact I thought that perhaps the turnout wouldn't be as big as I was anticipating because I didn't see much at first and I was only 5 blocks from ground zero but I was wrong. By the time I had walked one block toward the park the police presence was strong. Many in riot type gear. They had most streets and walkways blocked off funneling everyone into two or three entrances to ground zero. As I got closer to the park you could feel the tension. The Antifa presence was strong as was BLM. Didn't see many 'alt-righters' till I got to the park. (One note here - I think some people were there just to watch. It also wasn't always clear who was who.)
E Market St was the only way the police were allowing entrance to the park. The park is not huge. I'm guessing, but maybe 1.5 acres or so. It also is on a mound/hill so you have take steps up from Market St to get to it. There are two sets of steps up to the park from Market St. I was coming from the south. The northern entrance was for those protesting the removal of the statue and had been cordoned off as best they could. The southern entrance was for everyone else although most people in the park were statue removal protesters (alt-right). As I got to the park the crowds were already pretty thick. The northern entrance had some priest/religious figure locking arms with antifa and blocking the entrance. The rhetoric and name calling was heavy from both sides. By the time I got to the park it was maybe 10:45 with the event slated to start @ noon. It looked to me there were about 300-400 alt-righters up top at the park and maybe 1000 -1500 others on the street being a mixture of the left and right but mostly left. By noon I would say the total number of people on all sides had swelled to 4-5,000. I position myself at the southern entrance on top of a retaining wall alongside 3 or 4 reporters/photographers. There were plenty of BLM signs, African Flags & various left supporting banners/flags. Of course many signs spouting about hatred and Nazi's too. The right had many Confederate Flags, various state flags & US flags, A Few Don't Tread On Me and a couple I didn't recognize. I've seen some pictures that show a few Nazi Flags/armbands but I didn't see them. Not saying there weren't there but again I didn't see them.
About 11:10 or so a group of about 50-75 statue supporters were making their way down Market street toward the park from the South. As they approached the southern entrance to the park is when the first violence started. Bottles of water, balloons of paint and bags of urine were thrown at them from the crowd. When that happen the shoving started, fist were flying and people hitting each other with sticks. Of course the right stood up for themselves. Now I'm not saying some on the right wouldn't be violent anyway BUT I can say for a fact they didn't start it. Also the police did nothing to quell the violence. Once it started it went on for at least 30-40 minutes or more with crap flying every which way. Also within this 30 + minutes a second group of about the same size also made there way down the street and this just exacerbated the chaos.
In looking at the pictures I took I see there aren't really any during this timeframe. I also wish I had taken more overall but all I know is if you weren't looking up and paying attention you were liable to be hit. Crap was being thrown in all directions but in a general direction without care to where it landed. I myself stopped 6 bottles coming in my direction, one from hitting the photographer next to me in the head.
As we approached noon the violence and shouting was prevalent. At this point the police started making the announcement on a bullhorn that the alt-right was having what had been declared an illegal gathering and that they must disperse or be arrested. They did nothing to contain nor restrain the left only the right. The right, who had legally obtain a permit to be there. They complied which I not sure if I was in charge I would have done, but that is another story. After this, while things continued to be chaotic people became more spread out and violence started to dissipate. As a side note I didn't see the vehicle thing.
I've never been in the middle of something like this. I found it fascinating & unnerving at the same time. In a split second things can escalate.
You can say what you want about those that were present on the right. They were there to speak to the removal of that statue and history. The MSM and politicians are railing on about the hatred and violence from the 'white supremacist' yesterday? But the left was full of vitriol & had no problem with violence even though you'd never know it from the press. I am not saying those on the right were all boy scouts but they had a right to be there and to have their right protected to assemble. Had the left not been there I am relatively certain no violence would have happened.
Thank you for your observation on this. It is what hubby and I saw on the tv also.
The way the media is playing it that Trump lead the KKK and then drove the car into the crowd himself.
Stay strong Mr. president, praying for you.
MAGA!!!
That picture strengthens my belief that AG Sessions would lead a fair and better investigation of BOTH sides than gov of Virginia who is a Hillary hack.
We have discussed on this forum that strategy before:
Provoke peaceful protesters/Trump supporters with namecalling, hate signs, rocks, bottles . .. show weapons
Denounce them as “racists” “fascists” whatever, in conjunction with a biased, left wing media that will gladly join/carve the narrative
Evenually, someone breaks. Either attacked or intimidated, reacts with gun (preferably).
Selective editing of film/video, deleting violence except that committed by alt-righter(s)
Blame Trump and conservatives. Pressure cowardly GOPe et al to “condemn” the violence “caused” by the marchers
We see it here, right out of the playbook. It will happen again. They’d love for another Tim McVeigh, and who cares who really is hurt or killed? They are just pawns in “The Resistance”
Thank you so much for this firsthand AAR.
Can’t imagine we’ll hear the more benign description of ‘statue supporters’ as opposed to ‘white nationalists, Nazis, KKK’ and so forth because the progressive, anti-American media knows that inflammatory rhetoric advances THEIR agenda.
“Your experience is meaningless. Half the Freepers are on the Antifa side it seems.”
The more I review and consider the “soros honeypot theory” the more it makes sense.
Things like this don’t make sense.
“Unite the Right” is a Soros-funded honeypot psyop that employs the “Pied Piper” strategy to damage the Republican brand”
Very plausible. Do you have more evidence of this?
Why did you go to this?
Antifa did block the street and slowed or stopped at least two cars before the Challenger plowed into the cars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0guSatguSk
#24, but we know that.
Agreed.
Tiki torches?
What self-respecting right leaning org would adopt a so-patently leftwing theme?
You may want to send what you have to Sessions...
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3576800/posts
I don’t buy the Soros honey pot theory.
What I think happened is that local Dem politicians and McAuliffe made some calculations about how to handle the protests, and score maximum political points for their side.
The story from Kessler about how the Charlottesville PD failed to provide previously agreed upon security measures needs a very thorough and public examination.
Unless he stupidly gave a statement to police before he obtained counsel, or ran his mouth to a cellmate, his story is this:
“I was just minding my own business driving my car. All the sudden, a large group of violent protesters blocked the street in front of me and kept me from leaving the area. Then another group started to physically attack my car while shouting threats of violence and blocking the rear.
I feared for my life so I attempted to escape what I considered to be a legitimate threat of death or serious bodily injury by driving forward into the crowd blocking the street. I felt I had no choice in choosing this option because those attacking me left me no other option. I had no desire or intention to hurt anyone at any time and I am saddened that injury resulted.”
POP Greene county 19,000
Thanks for the info!
More than that - many of them are paid disinformation agents from various leftist outlets. The gameplan is to create an incident, then try to discredit those who would contradict the leftist talking points using argument or eyewitness accounts. Signs that someone is a paid disinformant:
1) They try to characterise the entire rally, and movement by extension, as "Nazis," "white supremacists," "KKK," etc., despite this applying perhaps to only a small minority of participants.
2) Their talking points sound identical or very similar to those put out by hard left outlets. Hint: they sound the same because they come from the same source.
3) They will claim the right-wing organization in question is funded or otherwise substantially supported by Soros, the Rockefellers, SPLC, ACLU, or some other group which they know conservatives are hostile toward.
4) They will encourage conservatives to "punch right," so as to disunite those all across the right end of the spectrum who are largely agreed in opposing major elements of the leftist agenda.
5) They will often claim to be present or ex-military or police so as to lend an "official" or "patriotic" aura to what they say.
Keep in mind that many left-wing orgs have spent years infiltrating conservative and right-wing outlets, with the dual purpose of converging them leftward (i.e. taking over leadership and subverting them) and sowing dissention within the ranks. Free Republic has assuredly been targeted as well. Watch out!
What Trump should’ve said said, Peaceful Americans were prevented from expressing their freedom of speech, opinions, and rights in a free setting as citizens, by elements of hate from both right and left extreme groups some being supported and financed by political groups from within and outside our borders. By all indications, at this time, it was facilitated by the inaction of the local enforcement groups, allowing the groups to intermingle and to attack one or the other, apparently to allow political groups within the state to take advantage of the situation to enact a state of emergency thereby denying law abiding citizens their rights!
That and identifying those citizens, and associating “white people and citizens as the major part of the racist elements involved and as the problem are the egregious despicable acts that must be corrected and not be allowed to be hijacked by the media in their fake news narratives going forward!
you’re hired
How does the left assemble so quickly and get their professional signs and so forth. They seem very organized and can respond on a dime. How long was this demonstration planned for and how was it discovered by the left?
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