Kaplony
Palmetto State Deplorable
Posts: 25,393
Joined: Apr 2013
I Root For: Newberry
Location: SC
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Law enforcement errors inflamed Charlottesville violence, report says
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/12/01/law...finds.html
Quote:A string of law enforcement errors contributed to the eruption of deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a white nationalist rally there in August, an investigation found.
In a monthslong investigation, former U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy found that “planning and coordination breakdowns” before the Aug. 12 rally led to “disastrous results.” The report, released Friday, said the city failed by not adequately communicating or coordinating in advance, and by removing an officer from an area where a car plowed into counterprotesters and killed a woman.
“Because of their misalignment and lack of accessible protective gear, officers failed to intervene in physical altercations that took place in areas adjacent to Emancipation Park,” the report said. “(Virginia State Police) directed its officers to remain behind barricades rather than risk injury responding to conflicts between protesters and counterprotesters.”
Heaphy’s team interview 150 people and pored over half a million documents for the report, which said the city of Charlottesville had failed to protect public safety or the protesters’ rights to express themselves.
“This represents a failure of one government’s core functions – the protection of fundamental rights,” the report said. “Law enforcement also failed to maintain order and protect citizens from harm, injury, and death. Charlottesville preserved neither of those principles on Aug. 12, which has led to deep distrust of government within this community.”
Quote:“The report finds that protesters/counterprotesters were basically able to have a free-for-all on Market Street while police sat back for an hour in one case, and in other cases they were told to just stand by while people fought each other,” the report said.
Later, as counterdemonstrators were peacefully marching along a downtown street, a car drove into the crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
The review also found that an officer was initially supposed to be stationed near the intersection where the car plowed into counterprotesters. But the officer asked for relief out of safety concerns and was not replaced.
Quote:Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Police Chief Al Thomas and other top officials have previously defended the law enforcement response, saying police had to show restraint because some people in the crowd were heavily armed.
Rally organizers and counterprotesters, as well as some law enforcement experts, have questioned why authorities didn't do more to separate opposing forces or step in once the violence began breaking out.
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12-01-2017 04:10 PM |
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