Posted on August 14, 2019

Your World Investigates Charlottesville

Sinclair Broadcast Group, ABC3340, August 12, 2019

Two years ago, a Unite the Right rally was held in Charlottesville, Virginia. {snip}

{snip} The Unite the Right, protesting the planned removal of local monuments received permission to hold a rally in a downtown park.

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It was straightforward. Protesters were to gather in one park and counter-protesters were to assemble in two other parks blocks away. The opposing groups were separated.

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Aided by state authorities, Charlottesville had two-and-a-half months to prepare. But on that day, more than 800 law enforcement officers guided the 500 protesters and a thousand counter-protesters to the very same park. {snip}

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Inside Your World Investigates read the city and the state’s after-action reports. We also reviewed more than 12,000 pages of internal documents, correspondence, memos and emails from city, state and federal officials. A key mistake: {snip} At some point, the decision was made to put the opposing groups together in spite of warnings to keep them apart. It’s not clear why.

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The independent review found no evidence of a police stand-down order in spite of widespread public belief there was.

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After the independent review was conducted, most key city officials left, resigned, or retired from office. All city council members have declined to run for reelection. {snip}

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