CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Did the police stand down in Virginia? A Fox News reporter says they did.
Doug McKelway was in attendance during Saturday’s deadly events in Charlottesville. He reported that the police were called off as soon as things started turning violent.
Stand Down
“But when the tear gas started to fly, thrown by protesters, the police themselves began to evacuate then. I asked the guy who was in charge, ‘Where you going?’” said McKelway. “‘We’re leaving. It’s too dangerous.’ They had a chance to nip this thing in the bud and they chose not to.”
Of note, Unite the Right held a rally which was legally organized with a permit from the city, as was their 1st Amendment right to do so, and Antifa showed up with cement-filled cans and other weapons with plans to violently protest the event – creating a dangerous atmosphere. So who was calling the shots and what attempts were made to maintain order?
Virginia State Police
VA Police Spox Corinne Geller to @dougmckelway on @ANHQDC: describes the earlier violence, people throwing " soda cans with cement in them" pic.twitter.com/C00uwnyGLi
— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) August 12, 2017
McKelway’s Report Corroborated
The ACLU reportedly confirms McKelway’s report according to Robert Barnes. This allowed Unite the Right and Antifa to meet face to face with no interference.
ACLU confirms that police were given stand-down order. This invited the violence the city used to shut down a court-permitted protest. https://t.co/FQUhcYaIIm
— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) August 12, 2017
Some have suggested that the violent atmosphere and lack of police presence was a factor in the decision and ability of 20 year old white supremacist James Alex Fields to drive his 2010 Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32 year old paralegal Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others.
Fields is expected in court on today to face one charge of 2nd degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit and run – which was filmed from several vantage points, including a drone which happened to be above the scene of the crime, reported zerohedge.com.
Dramatic Footage From Drone Flying Overhead
A drone captured the terrifying moment a car plowed into the crowd in #Charlottesville, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/N9mVUpEPm3
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) August 13, 2017
Virginia State Troopers Killed
A lieutenant and trooper from the Virginia State Police were killed in a helicopter fatality during the event. So all around, it was a horrible day.
(Photo: Screenshot aerial footage credit SKYCLAD AERIAL)
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