Chicago Tribune: Police in Charlottesville criticized for slow response to violent demonstrations.
“The worst part is that people got hurt and the police
stood by and didn’t do a godd—- thing,” said David Copper, 70, of
Staunton, Va., after an initial morning melee at a park that when
unchecked by police for several minutes.
Fourteen people were injured in clashes; nine others were hurt in the
car crash. Later, two Virginia State Police troopers were killed when
their helicopter smashed into trees at the edge of town and burst into
flames. The loss of police officers only compounded the calamity on a
day that pushed police, city officials and residents to their limits.
Cable news replayed a seemingly endless loop of the early
violence at Emancipation Park, where police in riot gear had surrounded
the expanse on three sides, though seemed to watch as groups beat each
other with sticks and bludgeoned one another with shields. Many on both
sides came dressed for battle, with helmets and chemical irritants.
Police appeared at one point to retreat and then watch the beatings
before eventually moving in to end the free-for-all, make arrests and
tend the injured. The governor declared a state of emergency around 11
a.m. and activated the National Guard.
“The whole point is to have overwhelming force so that people don’t
get the idea they can do these kinds of things and get away with it,”
said Charles Ramsey, who headed both the District of Columbia and
Philadelphia police departments. Demonstrators and counter demonstrators
“need to be in sight and sound of each other but somebody has to be in
between,” he said. “That’s usually the police.”
You’d think.
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