BREAKING: Not All Charlottesville Protesters Were White Supremacists, Nazis

by Cassy Fiano | August 17, 2017 12:34 pm

After violence erupted in Charlottesville, the media devoted itself almost entirely to covering the white supremacists who invaded the small Virginia city. Donald Trump responded by talking about the “very fine people on both sides,” which caused instant outrage. But a new article from the “New York Times,” of all places, showcased people who came that were not white supremacists at all[1].

[2]

The “Times” interviewed someone who traveled to Charlottesville, but claims to not be part of any white supremacist group. The woman, Michelle Piercy, drove all night from her retirement home in Kansas to get to Virginia, to join the protest opposing the removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. “Good people can go to Charlottesville,” she told the “Times.” She also praised Trump, saying, “It’s almost like he talked to one of our people.”

“Conservatives like Ms. Piercy, who have grown only more emboldened after Charlottesville, believe that the political and media elite hold them and Mr. Trump to a harsh double standard that demands they answer for the sins of a radical, racist fringe,” the “Times” said. “They largely accept Mr. Trump’s contention that these same forces are using Charlottesville as an excuse to undermine his presidency, and by extension, their vote.”

In Trump’s press conference, he did condemn the white supremacists and Nazis, but he equally criticized the counter-protesters and spoke out against removing Confederate statues. “You have some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides,” he said. “You had people in that group — excuse me, excuse me — I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name.”

The press conference was heavily praised online by white supremacist groups, who felt that Trump was giving them legitimacy — and it was criticized by people on both sides of the aisle.

Endnotes:
  1. showcased people who came that were not white supremacists at all: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/08/17/new-york-times-charlottesville-protesters-not-white-supremacists-nazis/
  2. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/charlottesville-1.jpg

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