About Anna
Anna Saunders, a junior Media Arts and Design major, had the opportunity to be an intern at Charlottesville Radio Group. “It was one of the best experiences.” Anna said “I would go around town with all of the local news people and all the TV people never had their interns with them and I was always with my person and it just helped me out tremendously.” One of her many assignments was to cover the “Unite the Right” rally happening on August 12, 2017 in McIntire Park. Days before white –supremacists began gathering on the grounds of The University of Virginia, protesting with slurs and torches. This protest all in disapproval of the of the removal of the Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson Confederacy statues in Emancipation Park. “To some people they are reminders of history and to others they are reminders of history that we don’t need in the town.” There was a push to get rid of the statues. Wes Bellamy, the Vice-Mayor of Charlottesville, started a petition to take down the statues which really took off. But many people were unhappy with this as well. So began an argument and a very important question:
What can we do to make this right?
Anna was anticipating a terrible sight but never realized what would unfold that day. The following story will capture just what Anna experienced on August 12th.
Events leading up to August 12, 2017
In February of 2017, the city voted to remove the statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
In March, multiple groups filed a lawsuit against the city claiming, “the removal would violate the terms of the statue’s donor and that it would go against laws surrounding war statues.”
On June 5, 2017 the city renamed Robert E. Lee Park to Emancipation Park and Stonewall Jackson Park to Justice Park. This ensued lots of problems in the city.
On July 8th, the KKK gathered in the Emancipation Park to protest the removal of the statue. The KKK came from North Carolina to protest the removal of the statues.
“Before the KKK rally, there were a lot cases where someone would punch someone at the statue or they would be following Kessler around and he would post on Facebook saying, ‘going to a restaurant and I hope these people don’t show up to antagonize me’ and of course people showed up.”
There were multiple court cases leading up to the rally.
“I would go to the court cases and I was able to get a feel of who was on each side.” Anna said, “So that helped when I got to the KKK rally and Unite the Right rally because I could tell who was who in some instances.”
These events were just a taste of what the week prior to the Unite the Rally would be like.
The Week Before
Jason Kessler organized the “Unite the Right” rally and requested a permit for Emancipation Park, but was relocated to McIntire Park due to it not only being larger but Emancipation Park was located across the street from the Downtown Mall. The night before the rally, the city judges approved the taking place of the white-supremacists’ protest. This caused a lot of disapproval, but was still set to take place.
Once the downtown businesses were told they had to shut down and board up their windows to prepare for riots they sued the city.
“They were so angry. That’s a Saturday loss of business.”
The city of Charlottesville didn’t want to be sued, so they met with their lawyers to find a solution.
“So, the TV people are livid, they are calling her all kinds of names and chasing her down the hall and banging on her door because they need some sort of visual that they can put on TV.”
“It was kind of fun because we [local journalists] sat outside of the room waiting for four hours waiting and waiting. Some people would come out for a bathroom break and we would chase them down and they would say ‘we can’t say anything.’ They are still deliberating, we are all exhausted and it is around 9 o’clock p.m. at this point and then the lawyers come out and we are questioning them and they can’t say anything, then the mayor comes out and he says, ‘I can’t say anything.’ So, we waited for four hours and we aren’t getting anything, which sucks but it happens. Then the other council people come out and they give us some sound bites about the mood in the room which is helpful but still not what we are looking for. Then we are told we are going to get a statement from the head communications director of the city so we are waiting and waiting and then she comes out and says that she can’t say anything. So, the TV people are livid, they are calling her all kinds of names and chasing her down the hall and banging on her door because they need some sort of visual that they can put on TV. They have to go back and put their packages together and it’s ten o’clock at night.”
The director eventually released an email informing the media of there would be an announcement in the morning regarding the decision.
The next day they notified the public that the rally has been moved to McEntire Park.
This notice angered the white supremacist because they were protesting the removal of the statue and wanted to protest at the actual statue. It is also less populated and are fewer businesses than the heavy traffic area surrounding Emancipation Park. The night before the rally the judge ruled that the rally could remain at Emancipation Park.
“When I found out it was going to be at McEntire Park, I was relieved because one, it is right by the studio and we could just walk there and two, the park is a lot more spread out so I was thinking about how massive it would be, because I remembered how congested the KKK rally was and I knew this was going to be at least triple that in size.So, I was concerned about that, but once it got moved back I was concerned about how the police were going to prepare.”
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe let the public know that there would be Virginia State Police in force at the rally.
August 12
Anna was prepared for a long and chaotic day, but had no idea just how the next 12 hours would unfold.
“We packed a bunch of water and first aid kits and all this stuff. We didn’t know what it was going to be like. It looked like dooms day prep in our studio."
Anna and her co-workers were not only prepared with supplies, but also had a plan for a worse- case scenario.
“We made a plan where we put her car keys under a stone so if something happened to her, I could escape and leave or vice versa.”
“I was terrified. This was the first time I have ever feared for my life.”
When Anna got to Emancipation Park there were people hitting each other, people pulling their guns and using spray and matches to set flags on fire. There was little separation between the protesters and counter-protesters, unlike the KKK rally. Anna had a difficult time differentiating the protesters from the police because a lot of them had the full-on gear, shield, and all black. Working in radio meant Anna had to get extremely close to people and in their faces in order to record sound bites. Many protesters yelled “liberal media” at Anna and pushed her around in midst of fights happening all around her.
This photo was taken after the Unite the Right rally was declared unlawful, and many began heading to McIntire Park. These protesters were gathered around the Albemarle County building. Photo by Anna Saunders.
Around 10 am, the police declared the rally an unlawful assembly.
“The people began to disperse and go over to the McIntire park. A problem that arose was many of these protesters were from out of town, so there are men with machine guns strapped across their bodies, walking the streets of Charlottesville not knowing where they are going. So then you have a lot of calls from people saying there are men walking down our streets with guns, so the police have to respond to those as well.”
There were state police, police from D.C., Harrisonburg and all over Virginia.
“There were lots of people, but still not enough to control everything. It was a tough situation.”
As protesters headed to McIntire Park, Anna and the woman she was shadowing returned to the studio to begin putting soundbites together. They then went back to McIntire Park to prepare for reporting at the park. WINA is a CBS affiliate, so the radio station Anna worked for had CBS Radio New York calling in for information and a report from the ground.
“We had to phone in a few times and met with the PR person for the State Police to talk about their plan and then headed back to the studio.”
After going back to the studio once more, Anna arrives back at McEntire Park where David Duke and Richard Spencer were speaking to the media.
“They are talking about the day and complaining about the day and the city and that they were there to support a ‘white America’ and are spreading the message that the white culture is being depleted and eventually white people will become the minority. I think the biggest challenge was talking to them without giving them a platform. That is one of the hard things about journalism, you have to show both sides even if it is a matter of good versus evil. That was tough”
“It wasn’t fun to shake David Duke’s hand but I had to do it.”
The people surrounding Duke had guns and many of them began to leave, but with a haunting message.
“I was relieved that many of them were leaving, but their message as they were going was that ‘we will be back.’ And it was like what the heck are we supposed to do and it was just unsettling.”
As protesters were leaving the scene, Anna and other reporters stuck around to get more soundbites before receiving terribly shocking news.
“We were talking to David as he is getting into the car and that’s when we get a text, that there are reports that a car had just run into a bunch of people. Now we can’t say that out loud because there are other media sources around us.”
Anna and her supervisor quickly rushed downtown to the scene of the homicide.
“It is just absolute chaos. I hope I never have to see anything like that again. There was blood on the concrete and people laying on the ground in absolute pain, yelling for help. By the time we got to the scene there was such a huge crowd, the police and first responders couldn’t get through to help the injured people. The driver hit two other cars that then hit other people, so they were still on the scene and at that point, they had not been taken Heather Heyer away yet, but I didn’t see her. A lot of people were saying ‘she’s dead there is no way she is not dead. I know she’s dead.’ It was a lot to walk into all at once.”
“There was blood on the concrete and people laying on the ground in absolute pain, yelling for help.”
After the car plowed into the crowd of people, James Alex Fields Jr. from Maumee, OH reversed and floored it in attempts to leave the scene; injuring more people. In the minutes following this attack, Anna jumped right in at the scene and began listening to people’s reactions.
“In that situation, I didn’t know how to feel, and there are people around me who don’t know how to feel. And I had to be a reporter in that situation and that was really hard to do. The lady who I was working for told me to just go talk to people who saw what happened.”
Anna began walking the streets and shuffling through the crowd in search of people who were willing to speak about what they had just witnessed and encountered.
“I was very surprised at the number of people who wanted to talk.”
“People thought a bomb went off and people were saying they saw the car hit their gas. I was talking to one woman who said she had no medical training but she just immediately sprung into action and began helping people.”
Eventually, the scene began to be cleared away and the police began taking witnesses to ask questions and the street was taped off and became a crime scene. Counter-protesters were still loitering and the police worked to push them off to clear the scene.
“I remember I was talking to one of the police officers and with him as he was backing people up and one woman yelled that the only reason I’m not being backed up is because I’m white. That was tough, it was difficult not to yell back ‘hey I’m on your side’ or something like that.”
It was important for Anna to approach people who were in the crowd in hopes to help in any way she could. She was not in search of details but wanted to hear whatever they had to say which would hopefully help them process this terrible attack.
“When going up to these people and interviewing, I couldn’t say ‘oh how many people do you think died?’ You have to be a human being. So I would go up to these people and ask them if they were okay and if they needed medical attention. I would ask ‘how are you feeling right now?’ and what are you going through?’ rather than get the facts of what happened.”
After Anna and the woman she was shadowing, finished getting soundbites, they went to a liberal Champions Brewery to get some water. They were able to get some water and sat for a while trying to process. That is when the President of the United States came on the TV.
The Country's Reaction
“Trump comes on and they turn the TV up and I am just hoping he says something that makes sense, is correct and is sensitive and he doesn’t. He says something about his own accomplishments with the veterans first and then goes into talking about Charlottesville and talking about how there are good people on both sides. I just remember everyone in the brewery erupts and starts yelling expletives, people were throwing things and just a lot of anger. I thought to myself ‘this is a perfect opportunity to get soundbites as people were yelling at the screen.”
President Trump made a statement while on vacation in New Jersey saying “I think there is blame on both sides…You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent. Nobody wants to say that. I’ll say it right now.” This caused a lot of criticism not only in Charlottesville but across the country.
“It was a very intense moment because people were angry because we had just seen something so awful and we are looking for guidance from someone and our president is on the screen saying exactly what we don’t want him to say.”
After spending some time at the brewery, Anna went back to a much quieter downtown, where there were still groups of people chanting various things.
Anna went back to the station to begin preparing for the press conference with various city officials, and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, and Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe in the Municipal Building downtown. This press conference had tight security with heavily armed guards posted everywhere.
"We heard the governor and senator speak of unity and coming together in the midst of this hate and tragedy."
“I had to go through at least six people to get my press pass to go in. We go in and there are news outlets from everywhere. We heard the governor and senator speak of unity and coming together in the midst of this hate and tragedy."
Governor Terry McAuliffe speaks to a shocked city and country on the evening of August 12. Photo by Anna Saunders
Once the press conference wrapped up, Anna went home and like so many involved, began the process of healing.
“We knew it was going to be bad, we nicknamed it ‘Armageddon’ and I was taught two weeks in advance how to do a state of emergency on all stations, so we knew it was going to be bad. But the homicide was something no one could prepare for.”
Aftermath
Robert E. Lee statue under tarp Emancipation Park, Charlottesville 02 by Artaxerxes is licensed under CC BY-SA.
In the days following August 12th, a candlelight vigil was held in the rotunda at The University of Virginia. Anna was in attendance at this quiet and peaceful vigil counteracting the hate that took place by white-supremacists just days before.
“I was handing out programs and a man who was hit and had a broken leg, rolled up in wheel chair and I just lost it.”
As for the Robert E. Lee statue in Emancipation Park, it is now covered with a black tarp.
What You Can Do
Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign created by the Department of Homeland Security. This campaign is devoted to teaching civilians the basics when there is an emergency bleeding situation and professional emergency responders are on their way. These skills can better prepare the public in attacks such as the car attack that happened on August 12, 2017 and mass shootings.
This diagram is helpful knowledge to know and is helpful in a case like the car attack, where there are multiple bleeding victims. With more people having this knowledge, the public will be better prepared for a deadly situation.
Click on the button below for more information and resources on Stop the Bleed and where you can take the class.