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Controversy and Condemnation Surround the Lead-Up to a Crucial Pipeline Vote

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In the coming weeks, Virginia’s environmental and political future is set to see a potential shift. The past weeks were marked by upsets, confrontations, and accusations of corruption surrounding the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines, and as a crucial vote approaches, the future is decidedly uncertain.

The path to this moment began on November 10th, when the Virginia Air Pollution Control (VAPC) Board delayed a vote to approve construction on an ACP compressor station in the historic, majority-black community of Union Hill in Buckingham County. The decision followed two days of public deliberation over the negative impact the pipeline infrastructure could have on the region, and represented one of the first major halts in the ACP’s progress. Previously, the pipeline has sailed through the approval process despite repeated objections and concerns from within and without the Northam Administration.

“We are thankful that the Air Pollution Control Board has decided to take additional time to consider environmental injustice, site suitability, and cumulative impacts of the entire pipeline by deferring their vote on the air permit,” Virginia Interfaith Power & Light said in a statement released following the delay announcement.

This nonprofit has been one of several groups opposing the construction of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. They shared their concerns in a September meeting with Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, whose position on the ACP and MVP has conflicted with those of members of the administration, including Governor Ralph Northam, as far back as the 2017 gubernatorial election.

In the days following the decision, however, anticipation for the impending vote was replaced with a chorus of condemnation. This was a reaction to the dismissal of Rebecca Rubin and Samuel Bleicher from the VAPC Board by the Northam administration last Thursday. According to several environmental groups, their dismissals occurred after both raised concerns about the effect the compressor station would have on the Union Hill community.

Though both of their membership terms had expired in June, the nature of their membership (which allows them to stay on the board until resignation or removal), along with a lack of explanation from administration officials, only further incensed those opposed to the compressor station, who have since called for Bleicher and Rubin’s reinstatement. The administration later named Gail Bush of the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus and Kajal B. Kapur of Kapur Energy Environment Economics, LLC as their replacements.

“We believe that Governor Northam owes the people of Union Hill, and all Virginians, an explanation of this timing, clearly interfering in the deliberation and process of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s permitting decision on the Buckingham compressor station,” Virginia Interfaith Power & Light said.

Denouncing the administration’s move as “a stunning assault on the regulatory process,” the Virginia Pipeline Resisters took to the streets outside the Governor’s Mansion in the Virginia State Capitol earlier this month to protest the decision, joined by members of the Union Hill community.

“The Governor’s decision has done harm to my family,” said Richard Walker, whose genealogy and landownership in Union Hill stretches over a hundred years, back to former Virginia slaves in the late 19th century.

“The governor, who I campaigned for, has flipped the script on what’s being done with this air permit decision,” Walker said. “Anything that opposes Dominion, he seems to be speaking out on… I thought he was a fair and a good person, but as far as I can tell, the decision he made yesterday is no more than a ‘Donald Trump’ move.”

Adding to the voices of disapproval was Representative Sam Rasoul, D-City of Roanoke. Rasoul’s criticism was an unplanned addition to a press conference that focused on a report from Food and Water Watch on the “outsized political power” Dominion Energy holds over both chambers in the Virginia General Assembly, and Virginia politics in general.

While the removal of Rubin and Bleicher from the VAPC Board hadn’t been fully confirmed by the administration at that point in the conference, Rasoul did champion the efforts of citizens in challenging the pipeline’s construction, calling the possibility of “the voices of the people” being ignored as a result of this decision “an injustice and an outrage.” Rasoul joins a number of General Assembly members who have praised those opposed to the pipelines and scrutinized Dominion’s operations in the state, including Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, and Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax.

“I know that this administration and whoever else is behind it – Dominion Power, etc. – you will hear from us,” Rasoul said.

Rasoul, along with Rep. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Dale City, has also introduced a House bill for consideration in the 2019 General Assembly session that would put a “moratorium” on approving energy facilities that use fossil fuels in the state, with an eye towards requiring 100% use of clean energy sources by retail electricity suppliers in the Commonwealth by 2036.

Considering the extent of Dominion’s presence in Virgina, and how easily previous pipeline permits have been approved by administration officials, the December 10 vote on the ACP compressor station will likely set the tone for future deliberations on many aspects of Virginia’s environment and politics, regardless of outcome.

Photos provided by Virginia Pipeline Resisters

Prison Reform Advocates Call for Change to Solitary Confinement in Virginia 

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David Smith doesn’t cut the figure of a man who’s been to prison, let alone one who spent more than a year in solitary confinement.

Dressed in a button-up white shirt, with tan khakis and a blue blazer, the impression Smith gives is more of a white collar worker. This impression isn’t out of place in the homely lower level of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, which served as the setting for a forum on Virginia solitary confinement on October 27. For Smith, this misconception is one of many aspects of a long-standing issue that prison-reform advocates want the state to address. 

“When I meet with a Senator or Delegate, and I say ‘Yeah, hey, my name’s David, I spent sixteen-and-a-half months in solitary,’ the jaws drop,” Smith said. “And all of a sudden, it’s no longer that guy from the bad side — it’s ‘This could be my son, this could be my brother right here.’ So that begins to change the conversation.” 

For Virginia, one of the most recent shifts in that conversation came in May with a 67-page report from the ACLU of Virginia. The report detailed the extent of “the negative impacts of solitary confinement as practiced in Virginia, the systemic difficulties prisoners have in escaping it and returning to the general population, and the State’s failure to exclude individuals with serious mental health problems from solitary confinement.” 

The report was preceded by a letter to Governor Ralph Northam calling on him to sign an executive order that would limit the practice in Virginia. This request was joined by more, urging for state action from multiple advocacy and religious groups in the weeks following the report’s publication. These came largely through the Interfaith Action for Human Rights (IAHR), a coalition whose member organizations reside in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, and for which Smith serves as a representative. 

As detailed by Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass, Vice-chairperson of the IAHR, the lack of forward movement on this matter from state officials leaves many prisoners subject to a system of incarceration that includes “putting inmates in a cell that’s basically the size of a parking space.” 

“When an individual is put into solitary confinement, they are participating in an illegal court,” Snodgrass said. “You have security guards with a high-school education looking at inmates, giving them time — in some instances, more time than a judge gives them in a courtroom. And this is the issue.” 

On October 27, Smith moderated a panel of speakers that included former inmate, author, and community advocate Tommy Cox; Jenkins-Snodgrass; and Bill Farrar and Mateo Gasparotto of ACLU-VA. Jenkins-Snodgrass was open about effects that “the United States’ best-kept secret” had for her son, Kevin D. Snodgrass Jr., his health, and a loving family. 

“When we say ‘stop solitary confinement,’ we’re not saying open the floodgates and let everybody out of jail,” Snodgrass said. “We’re just saying to treat them like human beings while they’re in there.” 

The details of the years Snodgrass says her son spent in solitary confinement are a far cry from the statements that the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) has given in the past. They also contrast heavily with VADOC’s recent attempts to better the treatment of its prisoners. These include a 21-month initiative started in early 2017 with the Vera Institute of Justice, focused on reducing the use of what officials call “restrictive housing,” among other efforts. 

“When it comes to state prisons, Virginia stands out for operating a corrections system without the use of solitary confinement,” VADOC wrote in a press release posted the same day the ACLU report documenting widespread use of the practice was released. VADOC’s press release noted the praise it’s received from Governor Ralph Northam and the U.S. Department of Justice. “The Virginia Department of Corrections serves as a national model for the limited use of restrictive housing.” 

These statements and measures constitute some of the few pieces of public information available about the experiences of Virginia’s prisoners, something the panel repeatedly emphasized during the discussion. 

“This is a completely unregulated practice,” said Farrar, who serves as ACLU-VA’s communications director. “There’s nothing in the Virginia Code that even says what solitary confinement is, and that allows the Department of Corrections to lie about it.” 

“They say they don’t do it. They do.” 

In the absence of more accessible research or data on the state of Virginia’s prisons and their treatment of offenders, groups like ACLU-VA & IAHR and individuals like Tommy Cox are more than willing to fill in the gaps. 

“The people that came to the cell were nasty. They talk to you any kind of way, you took one shower once a week, and it was living hell,” said Cox, who described the physical degradation he suffered as the result of the conditions in solitary across two incarcerations, totaling almost 40 years. Cox’s time included one confinement which lasted three consecutive years during a stint in a New Mexico prison as a Virginia offender, which made him the very first inmate in the Commonwealth to be shipped out of state. 

Other testimonies and criticisms ranged from the withholding of food by guards to the mental effects solitary confinement has on inmates and the lack of accountability present in the VADOC and other agencies. Even the measures taken by the VADOC to create easier pathways out of “restrictive housing,” namely the Administrative Step-Down Program instituted in 2012, were sharply criticized for resulting in harsher treatments for Hispanic and African-American inmates. 

“Their treatment is completely arbitrary, there’s no sense of cohesion, and there’s no sense of fairness or justice,” said Gasparotto, who has spoken with several inmates at the Wallens Ridge and Red Onion State Prisons. The latter was the focus of a hunger strike by prisoners in 2012 as well as an HBO documentary released in February. It is part of an investigation into prison abuse by Attorney General Claude Walker of the Virgin Islands. 

“Ultimately, their goal is institutional control,” said Gasparotto, who works in ACLU-VA’s Legal and Public Policy departments, of the VADOC. “It’s not about rehabilitation, it’s not about building you back as a human being, it’s about you serving your time, keeping quiet, and getting out the door. And when you step out of line… solitary confinement is used.” 

The solutions the panel recommended to help in solving this problem proved to be the same method that defined much of the discussion — speaking up against solitary confinement, and championing the humanity of those incarcerated. 

Audience members were asked to call their representatives. Lobbying by the ACLU-VA has already led to the introduction of a “reporting bill” into the Virginia House of Delegates ahead of the 2019 General Assembly by Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, that would, according to Farrar, “help us understand who is being held in solitary confinement, why, for what reason, for how long,” and lead to further legislative action. Efforts are underway to introduce similar a similar bill in the Senate, in addition to continued advocacy work focused on the Northam Administration. 

Delegate Hope was one of several people the speakers mentioned as “interested” in tackling the issue of solitary confinement — including legislators in both the Democrat and Republican parties — who “are waiting to see who will move first,” said Snodgrass. 

“Not everybody in the state government is turning a blind eye to this. There are advocates within the system,” Smith said. 

One of those advocates, Peter Wells, who ran as a Libertarian against A. Donald McEachin and Ryan McAdams in Virginia’s 4th District, was present to share his thoughts. Touting the prominence of criminal justice reform as part of his platform, Wells impressed on the audience the potential attention this issue would receive if his campaign made a strong impact in the midterms. 

While McEachin eventually claimed a sizable victory in last Tuesday’s midterms elections, with Wells pulling in around 1% of the overall vote, the then-Senatorial candidate was optimistic he would have the chance to bring the topic into a wider spotlight. 

“I’ve already had one offer to sit down after the election and talk about some issues,” Wells said. “So I’m going to get some logging time with whoever wins just by coming out of this.”

As for Smith, he and other advocates are already looking ahead to next year’s local elections to establish connections with politicians sympathetic to their goals, regardless of party affiliation. 

“Because you need to have that across the board,” Smith said. “It’s not a left issue, it’s not a right issue. This is a human rights issue.” 

Photos by George Copeland

“Pumpkins Not Pipelines”: Activists Stage Halloween Parade Outside the Governor’s Office

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Richmond residents from Broad Street to North 9th were witness to a parade of costumed protesters Wednesday, warning of “a place where the air is so polluted it causes headaches, nosebleeds and illness. A place where your water is the color of toxic mud.”

“On this Halloween day, you may think we are giving the details of a horror story,” said Stacy Lovelace of the Virginia Pipeline Resisters, speaking through a megaphone. “But sadly this is, and will be, the reality for those along the path of the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines.”

The activists marshaled outside the Governor’s Office at the Virginia State Capitol, as they have every week since early February, in protest of the Northam administration’s continued approval of the Mountain Valley (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipelines (ACP).

Following a brief demonstration and recognition of the lives lost from hate crimes at a Kroger in Kentucky and the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the group marched several blocks west to the Office of the Attorney General, chanting all the way. Their protest was joined by unexpected “guests”: life-sized props of Governor Ralph Northam and Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew Strickler, hands stuffed with cash, with cardboard rods sticking out from their noses.

“They dressed as Pinocchio, which is fitting, because they’ve been telling lots of fibs lately,” Lovelace remarked. For her own costume, she wore posters with quotes from multiple studies about the pipelines’ potential to negatively impact the region.

Dominion Energy was recently permitted to begin its 300-mile construction of the ACP, which will stretch across the Commonwealth and includes a compression station. The placement of that station in Buckingham County’s historic and majority-black Union Hill community has made it a particular focus of criticism for those opposed to the projects. 

Activists in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina have taken a variety of measures to stem the pipeline’s progress across their states, from tree sit-ins to chaining themselves to equipment and more. Authorities have responded with arrests and the monitoring of activist groups by anti-terrorism agencies. 

These actions to stop construction have continued even as members of Northam’s own administration show their opposition to the pipelines. The Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice called for a halt to permit approval days before the APC was given the green light, while Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax has continued to lend an open ear to the concerns of the community, along with other public officials who have challenged the developments surrounding this issue. 

Speaking outside the the entrance to the Office of the Attorney General, Lovelace made an appeal to Attorney General Mark Herring, including a letter addressed to him personally, asking him to invoke the power granted to him by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act against the pipelines.

“While we are grateful to your resistance to Trump’s deregulation and other abhorrent policies,” Lovelace said, “we must ask: why are you ignoring these pipeline projects, supported by Trump, here in Virginia? We ask that you immediately take action against these projects, which are true terrors and real life monsters, and stand with the impacted Virginians.”

Along with their weekly protest, the Pipeline Resisters plan to stand with the Union Hill community during the public hearing on the ACP compressor station on November 8 and 9, alongside groups that include Water is Life and Friends of Buckingham. 

“We will be in solidarity with them and helping them with what happens that day,” said Jessica Sims, who leads the Pipeline Resisters with Lovelace.

Photos by George Copeland

NAACP Condemns Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Governor, and Secretary of Natural Resources

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The Virginia State Conference NAACP took state regulators to task for their recent approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). In a press statement released Saturday, the group expressed its concerns with the state’s “refusal to protect our land, water and communities,” with a particular focus on environmental and social costs. The group also focused on specific condemnation for the actions of Governor Ralph Northam and Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew Strickler.

“It is well-documented that the permitting processes are flawed, and yet the projects are being allowed to move forward with reckless abandon to our natural environment and communities,” the statement reads.

This criticism came a day after the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved a permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, giving the go-ahead to Dominion Energy to begin its 300-mile, state-crossing construction. The ACP will join the already-in-progress Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), and will include a compressor station in Buckingham that has seen specific focus and disapproval for its placement in the historic, majority black Union Hill.

In a statement acknowledging the opposition brought against the pipelines’ completion, Strickler said, “We remain dedicated to holding them to the highest environmental standards possible pursuant to state authorities.”

The VSC NAACP weren’t the only group to call out the Northam administration’s actions. The Virginia Pipeline Resisters released their own statement Monday that followed a similar track in their messaging. Along with disapproval for the statements Northam has made through Strickland, both the Pipeline Resisters and VSC NAACP highlighted the negative impact the MVP and ACP’s construction would have on Virginia’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities — with the latter citing a report conducted by the NAACP and CleanAir Task Force on the wide discrepancies in those at risk to toxic chemical emissions in the United States.

Deriding statements from the Governor and Secretary as “riddled with falsehoods,” the Pipeline Resisters wrote that “despite deceptions from the Northam Administration, the State of Virginia’s regulatory entities can and should prevent any further work on the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.”

Northam’s approval of the pipelines has proven to a frequent issue, stretching from the gubernatorial campaign trail to the day of his inauguration and well into 2018.

This year has seen both the pipelines and Dominion Energy facing steady criticism from a wide spectrum of voices, from established Democrats like Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, congressional candidates that include Jennifer Lewis, 6th District, and community pushback that extends beyond Virginia state lines.

Northam himself has seen opposition to the pipelines’ construction from within his own administration. The Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice called on the suspension of permit approval for the MVP and ACP in a letter to Northam in August, citing the potential negative consequences for poor, indigenous, brown and black communities in the Commonwealth. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, meanwhile, has been open on his antipathy to the pipelines, meeting with religious and community leaders to discuss the matter in mid-September.

A public hearing on a permit for the ACP compressor station is set for November 8 and 9 in Union Hill, Buckingham. 

State of Emergency Called Ahead of Unite the Right Anniversary in Charlottesville

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*This is a developing story. 

Governor Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville ahead of the one year anniversary of Unite the Right. The white supremacist rally held on August 12 last year left one person dead and another 30 wounded when James Field Jr drove his car into a group of counter-protestors. The announcement released earlier this afternoon stated, “These state of emergency declarations will enhance planning and cooperative response efforts that have been in development since March.” According to the statement, the declaration allows various state agencies to perform “actions outside of the scope of normal operations” as a way to make sure resources are available to both local government and residents.

According to CBS 6, the Virginia State Police Superintendent has said that 700 state police will be activated in and around Charlottesville to prevent any incidents over the course of the weekend.

Photo by Landon Shroder

Last August, the city of Charlottesville and the Charlottesville Police Department took a hands-off approach to the event, which ended in street brawls, confrontations, and the eventual vehicular attack against counter-protestors. Charlottesville Police Chief Alfred Thomas resigned last December shortly after the release of a highly critical report that listed serious planning failures.The consultant hired to evaluate planning for the event, former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy, found that the city failed to both coordinate and communicate proper instructions in advance of the rally.

The man behind the attack, James Fields, Jr. of Ohio, has been indicted on 30 charges including federal hate crimes, and is awaiting a November trial. Several memorial events have been planned this weekend in Charlottesville. Jason Kessler, the man who organized Unite the Right last August, will be holding another rally in Washington, DC on Sunday. The National Park Service released a list of speakers who will headline the event which included, neo-Nazi Patrick Little, KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, Simon Roche, Kevin Cormier, Avialae Horton, and Corey Mahler.

A map of the security planning for this weekend has been released by Solidarity Cville in a tweet just two hours ago.

They also released a list of instructions indicating what is allowed and isn’t on the downtown mall over the course of the weekend.

The One Year Anniversary of Unite the Right is Here. A lot Has Happened

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RVA Tank, Parkland Shooting, Democratic-nominee Spanberger, families separated at the border, KKK effigies, Governor Northam, punching Nazis, getting punched by Nazis.

It’s been a long year.

As we approach the one year anniversary of Unite the Right, the alt-right rally held in Charlottesville on Aug. 12 last year that ended with the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer, it’s hard to ignore the tension in the air. Whether that tension has increased or decreased, or the political dissension within our country is better or worse, Americans are certainly motivated. We’ve seen protest after protest, breaking news stories flying in each day with news of Russia, North Korea, Robert Mueller, Corey Stewart, and Jason Kessler.

The white nationalist movement has not slowed down, nor has it given up. Identity Evropa came to Richmond to pick up trash in hopes of normalizing their cause. The FBI has as many open cases concerning white supremacist propaganda online as they do for ISIS. And Unite the Right is happening again, but this time, its headed to Washington, D.C.

Here is a brief roundup of events from the past year to get you up to speed on the white nationalist movement in Virginia in preparation for this weekend’s latest appearance from our best-known racists (this list may not include every event related to white nationalism in Virginia):

August 2017: Jason Kessler, online blogger, and white nationalist, successfully organizes an alt-right rally called Unite the Right on Aug. 12 in Charlottesville, in the name of protecting the Confederate statues in two local parks. Several physical altercations occurred during the rally, and attendees were armed with bats, guns, or other weapons.

White Supremacists at Unite the Right

James Alex Fields, Jr., a white nationalist, drove his vehicle into a crowd of counter-protesters after the rally was deemed unlawful by police. His attack killed Heather Heyer and injured multiple others. Fields was part of Vanguard America, a white supremacist organization. He was placed in jail and denied bail.

President Trump suggested the blame for the violence rested with “many sides.”

September 2017: The Dreamers, young first-generation immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act, mobilized after Trump’s threat to end the program. Long marches between Charlottesville and Richmond as well as Charlottesville and Washington sprung up as September clung to summer temperatures. DACA was rescinded later that month by Trump, but at least temporarily upheld by the Supreme Court.

An activist group hung Ku Klux Klan effigies in Bryan Park.

The New Confederate States of America planned a rally in Richmond to support Confederate statues on Monument Avenue, claiming to be motivated by the Monument Avenue Historical Commission convened in June by Mayor Levar Stoney and tasked with providing recommendations for what to do with the statues. The rally took place on Sept. 16, attended by over 400 counter-protesters, a heavy police presence, and a small handful of CSA members who arrived in twos and threes. The CSA was severely outnumbered in what RVA Mag called a “win for Richmond,” as the protest ended peacefully.

Counter-Protestors in Richmond

Later that month, the FBI claimed white nationalists are just as dangerous as Islamic terrorists.

October 2017: At the beginning of the month, a circuit court judge in Charlottesville handed down a ruling signaling that the Commonwealth’s laws protecting war memorials could be retroactively applied to Virginia’s Confederate monuments.

The City of Charlottesville and several small businesses in the area filed a novel lawsuit to prevent future militia groups from entering their city again. This lawsuit is ongoing and continues to seek a verdict in August of 2018. Six defendants have settled since May 2018.

White nationalist Richard Spencer held a torch-lit rally in Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, glorifying the Robert E. Lee monument and mimicking a similar torch-lit rally held on UVA’s campus the night before Unite the Right. Around two dozen white nationalists were present.

Jason Kessler began a new white nationalist group called New Byzantium following Unite the Right. It’s one of many new alt-right groups that continue to crop up to this day, largely spread through online forums.

November 2017: In a Democratic sweep, Ralph Northam became the new Governor of Virginia, joined by Justin Fairfax as Lt. Governor, and Mark Herring as Attorney General. It was a significant Democratic victory similar to the victory of then-Senator Obama when he won the presidency in 2008. The blue wave was accompanied by a new wave of female representatives in the General Assembly, the largest number of women to be elected to the GA in Virginia’s history. This included the first Latina women, the first Asian-American, and the first transgender woman to win a seat in the GA.

January 2018: Chris Cantwell, the notorious “Crying Nazi,” faced up to 20 years in jail for pepper-spraying counter-protesters at a torch-lit white supremacist rally on UVA’s campus the night before Unite the Right. At the beginning of the month, he attempted to sue anti-fascists, claiming that they discharged the pepper spray against themselves.

Thousands of women come to Richmond for the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March.

March 2018: Deandre Harris, a black man viciously beaten by white nationalists during the Unite the Right, was charged and then acquitted of assault by the District Court in Charlottesville. During Unite the Right, Harris was assaulted by six men with wooden pikes in the Market Street Parking Garage, eventually sustaining a spinal injury and receiving 10 staples in his head.

June 2018: Nathan Larson, a self-confessed pedophile and white supremacist, runs for Congress in Virginia. Previously an accountant in Charlottesville, Larson is running as an independent. Jason Allsup, another white nationalist who attended the Unite the Right rally, was elected as a Republican official in Washington state. This marked the beginning of many white supremacists and anti-Semitic candidates running on the Republican ticket in America ahead of midterm elections. This trend continued with Corey Stewart, Virginia’s Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. He appeared on CNN and struggled to answer questions about his past ties to white supremacists and anti-semites. He continues to be aggressive online and has not revoked his white nationalist ties.

Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 7th District, wins a huge primary victory and will run against Dave Brat in the fall for the congressional seat.

Abigail Spanberger

President Trump begins his “zero tolerance” immigration policies and enacts legislation that separates immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. National and international outrage sparks protests throughout the Commonwealth, including one outside Dave Brat’s office, who publicly supported Trump’s decision.

The National Parks Service approved an application submitted by Jason Kessler for another alt-right rally to be held in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 11 and 12 this year. This will come to pass this weekend in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C.

Identity Evropa visited Richmond for a little community service by picking up trash around town in an attempt to normalize their organization and beliefs. In Lexington, local restaurant owner Stephanie Wilkinson refused to service White House Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at her restaurant, The Red Hen. It was followed by five days of protests against and for her restaurant. In one instance, someone threw chicken feces on their storefront window.

July 2018: The Monument Avenue Commission recommended that the Jefferson Davis monument be removed from Monument Avenue, with Mayor Stoney’s approval. Later in August, an unknown individual vandalized the Robert E. Lee monument with red paint, writing “BLM” (Black Lives Matter) on the statue’s base. This is only the latest act of vandalism concerning the statues over the past year.

Chris Cantwell, the aforementioned “crying Nazi,” was barred from entering the Commonwealth for the next five years. He plead guilty to assault and battery for spraying two anti-racist activists with pepper spray the night before Unite the Right.

August 2018:

Now that August approaches, we look to another year that will hopefully not result in death or injury. Jason Kessler will be in D.C. this Sunday, Aug. 12, in Lafayette Square to march and protest in the name of “white civil rights.” Regular faces like Kessler, Spencer and former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke are said to appear and speak, although the movement has suffered serious divisions and other prominent white nationalists are disavowing Kessler.

A vigil will be held on Saturday, Aug. 11, in Charlottesville at 5 p.m. for Heather Heyer, in remembrance of her life, as well as an anti-racist march the next day in an attempt to heal from the events of last year.

Stay with RVA Mag on Instagram (@rvamag) and Twitter (@RVAmag)  for updates on these events this coming weekend.