Bills intended to prevent another Charlottesville disaster have all met defeat
As the one-year anniversary of the August 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville approaches, efforts to pass legislation by members of the Virginia General Assembly in response to the violence and deaths that occurred that day have been met with frustration and failure.
Since the disastrous events surrounding the 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally, the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond has rejected several proposed bills which, if ratified into law, would have enforced gun restrictions and banned paramilitary activity at future white supremacist rallies, as well as allowed cities such as Charlottesville to remove Confederate monuments at their own discretion, according to the bill鈥檚 sponsors.
The following bills were introduced by members of the State Senate and House of Delegates whose districts cover the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, as well as other Assembly members:
- In response to the number of people seen carrying high capacity rifles in downtown Charlottesville on August 12, 2017, Delegate David Toscano which would have authorized Virginia towns and cities to restrict firearms in public spaces. would have allowed any locality to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms or ammunition in public spaces during a permitted event, or an event that would otherwise require a permit. would have added Charlottesville and Albemarle County to a list of localities with restricted firearm use, banning specific firearms and shotguns. in the state senate by Senator R. Creigh Deeds ( before they are sent to the governor for signature).
- A outlawing paramilitary activity, such as that displayed by several militia groups at the 2017 rally, was sponsored by Senator Louise Lucas.
- Senator Deeds also authored two related bills that were inspired by events in Charlottesville, where armed militia members created confusion as to whether they were law enforcement officials. would have made it a crime to impersonate members of the U.S. military and other public safety personnel and would have restricted the wearing of attire and weaponry giving the false impression that the wearer is an official law enforcement officer or member of the armed forces.
- Delegate Toscano also drafted a last January that would have granted localities the authority to either keep or remove Confederate monuments (the state senate was drafted by Senator Jennifer Wexton). At the time, 鈥淲hite supremacists came to my city last summer and wreaked deadly violence in the name of a statue. My bill would empower localities to remove these statues if they so choose, or to keep them if they want to as well.鈥�
Every single one of these bills .
The first 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally took place August 11 and 12, 2017. On the night of August 11, a , during which marchers chanted 鈥淛ews will not replace us鈥� and made monkey noises at black counter-protestors. The next day, at the downtown mall in Charlottesville, Heather Heyer, an anti-racist protester, was struck and killed by a car driven by James Alex Fields, Jr. He faces both state and federal charges related to the incident. Two Virginia State Police troopers monitoring the day鈥檚 events .
Another gathering of the racist 鈥渁lt-right,鈥� with events both in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C., is scheduled for the weekend of August 11-12, 2018. The status of the Charlottesville demonstration remains unclear. Jason Kessler, who helped organize the 2017 rally, sued the city of Charlottesville after officials turned down his bid to return to mark the event鈥檚 anniversary. A federal judge has set a hearing for July 24.
Photo by聽Felix Lipov/Alamy聽
