1/ I was a Charlottesville police officer on the ground during the 2017 Unite the Right rally. What I lived through that day still wrecks me. Seeing this post has me beyond pissed.
The heat was oppressive — sweat pouring off every one of us while we stood there in double sets of armor. The crowd was loud and raucous everywhere. Confusion reigned because there was little real communication from the top, due to the level of chaos. Our department was unprepared for what was coming.
2/ The day before, I called our detectives to ask if they knew the suspects were using UHF radios. Nobody had a clue. So I had one of our detectives track down our Communications sergeant — a woman I trusted like few others — so they could bring the radios they had at home, or buy new ones, just to monitor those frequencies. That’s how fucking unprepared the department was.
3/ I was standing right there when they started throwing the pepper bombs — everybody’s eyes watering, screams and shouts echoing. I saw Jason Kessler coming down the street when the first clash erupted right in front of the steps. I was there when the preachers were getting hit in the face. I was one of the only people who heard the shot fired on the other side of the park.
4/ That day didn’t end when the sun went down. The trauma destroyed my body. A year later my knee was wrecked. It cost me my career in law enforcement, strained my marriage to the breaking point, and changed my life forever. I can’t even begin to explain the hell it put me and my family through.
5/ Now this drops — F-37, a member of the leadership chat for the rally, made racist posts under an SPLC employee’s supervision, arranged transport for others to attend, and the SPLC paid this person ~$300K (per the federal indictment this thread is based on).
If the SPLC — which receives significant funding from various sources including donor money that critics have long argued influences policy and government-adjacent work — had a paid hand in any of this, it’s one of the most egregious things I’ve ever seen. We were the ones left standing in the chaos, getting hurt, while others allegedly pulled strings from the shadows.
6/ I wish there was real accountability. I wish someone could actually help us hold the people and organizations responsible through the courts or a real investigation. The truth about what happened that day — and who enabled or profited from the division — needs to come out.