The First Amendment on the Grounds in Charlottesville
On Friday, Aug. 11, I traveled to Charlottesville, Va., to attend my co-clerk’s wedding. I was generally familiar with the controversy over the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue but was not aware that white supremacist demonstrations were scheduled for the weekend. After the rehearsal dinner wrapped, I drove back to the hotel along Main Street.
On Friday, Aug. 11, I traveled to Charlottesville, Va., to attend my co-clerk’s wedding. I was generally familiar with the controversy over the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue but was not aware that white supremacist demonstrations were scheduled for the weekend. After the rehearsal dinner wrapped, I drove back to the hotel along Main Street. As we approached the Rotunda—the center of the campus designed by Thomas Jefferson himself—the traffic ahead suddenly slowed to a crawl. In the distance, we saw some lights. At first glance, it appeared to be a candlelight vigil, but we quickly realized what was going on. Hundreds of white nationalists with torches were walking down the steps of the Rotunda, chanting something incoherent, though the word “Jews” was distinctly pronounced. The sight was surreal; I was more stunned than afraid.
