The mainstream media and Democrats have made this all about the alt-right, white nationalists and Nazis, but had it not been for the vitriol and intolerance of the far left, no one would have died in Charlottesville on August 12. Politicizing the death of any person is one of the grossest things we can do, but the far left and mainstream media have already done it. They have smeared and blamed Donald Trump, the far right and conservatives for what happened in Charlottesville, so it is necessary to defend the president and many of us on the right from these baseless attacks. This is how the events that culminated in the death of Heather Heyer really unfolded and this is who we should blame.
Removing A Statue
Where it all started was with protests and calls from far-left activists to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a Charlottesville park. The city's council caved to pressure and protests and agreed to remove the statue. It was done and the city of Charlottesville was going to rewrite history rather than keep the historic landmarks in place as reminders of a past that is better left remembered—if not as a reminder to never repeat such mistakes, then for the simple sake of education.
A group of white supremacists and alt-right activists planned a peaceful—yet repugnant—rally to protest the statue's removal. From the moment the rally was planned, mainstream media began promoting it as a pro-Trump, racist rally that would disturb the peace.
The truth is that the far left had already won by having city council vote to remove the statue. What more did they need? Apparently, they needed a violent rally to pin on Trump supporters for political gain.
Hyping The Hate
Mainstream media, including CNN, publicized the rally for days before it was scheduled to happen. Almost every left-wing blog and media organization had its hopes up for a violent encounter long before a violent encounter actually happened.
The protesters themselves came in peace, despite their hateful messages and racist, Nazi salutes. One of the organizers, Richard Spencer, promoted the rally as peaceful and encouraged his supporters to condemn and ignore any calls to violence. Not one posting or advertisement for the rally called for violence, yet America's mainstream media was predicting clashes and potential casualties for days prior to the rally.
The Washington Post on August 11:
The convergence of potentially thousands of protesters and counterdemonstrators has left many city leaders, residents and business owners worried about possible violence and property damage in the typically tranquil community.
In unison, mainstream media and left-wing organizations hyped the event more effectively than Richard Spencer and his alt-right cohorts. The attention that the rally garnered was almost single-handedly created by the mainstream media and far left.
Peace Until Antifa
The far left group,
Antifa, showed up the day after a peaceful demonstration involving
tiki torches, dorky white guys and Nazi hand gestures. Before a bunch
of Marxist, mask-wearing, flag waving thugs showed up, everything was
under control. Some even carried signs that said, “killing Nazis is
my heritage”.
Like with most rallies of late, Antifa was the catalyst to the violence that ensued.
Upon the arrival of mask-wearing, brick wielding thugs came violence. One noticeable difference between the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, alt-right supporters and the Antifa rioters was their gear. Unlike the peaceful racists, Antifa protesters donned all black clothing, masks and—in some cases—knee pads and helmets. The Antifa protesters were not there to protest, they were there to riot.
Almost immediately upon their arrival, insults and newspaper dispensers were airborne. From there, rage was ignited on all sides.
Rage, Violence And Murder
There is no excuse for what James Alex Fields did, but like all of the violence and rioting that ensued prior to his heinous act, it was provoked and encouraged by the climate created by the presence of Antifa.
It could be argued that without Antifa, Fields might not have been provoked. That doesn't condone his actions, but it speaks to the violence and rage that was brought to the surface by “anti-fascist” criminals who set out to wreak havoc from the get-go. Often when we are punched or threatened, our immediate instinct is to punch back.
Fields was obviously harboring latent rage and hatred that was brought to the surface by violent thugs who had only one purpose: to incite violence. Fields himself, being a latent psychopath, should not have been in an environment that was purposefully turned into a warzone by the far left. His actions were encouraged and provoked by a hostile environment that had already deteriorated into violence, hours before he decided to commit murder.
Had Antifa not shown up, the likelihood would have been greater for a peaceful ending.
One-Sided Analysis
After the violence, we're now in the stages of one-sided, typically biased media coverage. We certainly haven't come a long way from the days when mainstream media blamed any and all violence on Donald Trump's rhetoric.
According to what we're seeing now on CNN and MSNBC, the alt-right and Donald Trump are to blame for what happened in Charlottesville. Nowhere is the role of Antifa mentioned in analysis and coverage of the riots and death of Heather Heyer.
Mainstream media analysis seems to have done a 180 degree turn from how acts of Islamic terror are covered and analyzed. Fields has now become the symbol of a Trump supporter. His heinous act of murder now represents Trumpism and the entire alt-right, defying the logic that has prevented media from casting the same labels upon radical Islamism and the people who commit crime in its name.
Every act of terror committed in the name of Islam has now been forgotten and white nationalism is again the biggest threat facing America. Like Islam, Antifa has gotten a free pass from the same media that won't hesitate to blame white nationalism and Donald Trump for every act of violence committed in their names.
Joe Biden Was Right
Immediately after Trump's highly criticized speech about Charlottesville, Joe Biden tweeted, “There is only one side.” This was in response to Trump casting the blame on “many sides”. Even though he was criticizing Trump's speech and trying to claim that the “one side” is everyone who stands up against racism, his tweet rings true on a different level.
There is only one side. That “side” is the side that stands against all kinds of political violence. It so happens that people like Richard Spencer and the Nazi dweebs who stood with tiki torches are on that “one side”—which also happens to be the right side.
This may be controversial to say, but the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville were peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights. Their intention was to hold a peaceful rally and the consequences of our disagreement with them was supposed to have no bearing on their right to do so.
As many have noted, had the white supremacists been ignored and left to demonstrate and then go home, we would have quickly forgotten about them and their ridiculous cause by morning. Had the media not hyped their bigotry, had Antifa not turned a peaceful rally into a war and had people gone about their own business while a bunch of irrelevant white men vented their frustrations, we would not be talking about Charlottesville today.
Perhaps Heather Heyer would still be alive had everyone just ignored the alt-right and their silly rally.