James Fields, in the centre with the
circular shield. He wears the white
polo shirt and khaki pants that are
the group’s uniform. (Photograph: Go
Nakamura/New York Daily News)
"If you
are not
outraged,
you're
not
paying
attention.":
Heather
Heyer,
32, was
identified
as the
lone
fatality
in the
domestic
terrorist
attack
in
Charlottesville,
Virginia.
(Photo:
via
Facebook)
CHARLOTTESVILLE,
VA - "I
want her
death to
be a
rallying
cry for
justice
and
equality
and
fairness
and
compassion,"
says
mother
of
Heather
Heyer.
"No
mother
wants to
lose a
child,
but I'm
proud of
her."
Though
there is
much
more to
learn
about
the lone
victim—identified
by
family
and
friends
on
Sunday
as
Heather
Heyer, a
32-year-old
paralegal
from
Virginia—who
lost her
life in
the
vicious
attack
in
Charlottesville
on a
group of
anti-racist
demonstrators,
the last
public
message
she left
behind
offered
at least
a
semblance
of what
inspired
her to
march
against
hate on
Saturday:
"If you
not
outraged,
you're
not
paying
attention."
"Heather
was not
about
hate,
Heather
was
about
stopping
hatred.
Heather
was
about
bringing
an end
to
injustice."
—Susan
Bro,
victim's
motherThe
well-worn
but
still
evocative
saying
is the
banner
image on
Heyer's
public
Facebook
page,
receiving
increased
attention
since
her
horrific
death on
Saturday
afternoon
when an
individual—the
police
have
arrested
and
charged
20-year-old
James
Fields
Jr. with
murder—intentionally
slammed
a car
into
people
protesting
a rally
by
neo-Nazi
and
white
supremacists
in the
city.
On a
GoFundMe
page,
established
with the
apparent
blessing
of
Heyer's
family,
a friend
wrote,
"Heather
Heyer
was
murdered
while
protesting
against
hate.
She is a
Greene
County
native
and
Graduated
from
William
Monroe
High
School.
Her
mother
[...]
said
'She
died
doing
what was
right.
My heart
is
broken,
but I am
forever
proud of
her'."
The
page—which
had set
a
$50,000
goal—had
already
surpassed
that
amount
as of
this
writing.
It
appears
Heyer
updated
her
cover
photo
with the
message
just
days
after
President
Donald
Trump
was
elected
in
November.
In an
interview
with the
Huffington
Post
published
Sunday
afternoon,
Heyer's
mother,
Susan
Bro,
said she
was
"proud"
of her
daughter
"who
always
had a
very
strong
sense of
right
and
wrong."
Even as
a child,
said
Bro, she
"was
very
caught
up in
what she
believed
to be
fair."
She
added,
"Somehow
I almost
feel
that
this is
what she
was born
to be,
is a
focal
point
for
change. I'm
proud
that
what she
was
doing
was
peaceful,
she
wasn’t
there
fighting
with
people."
According
to the
Guardian:
Photographs
from
earlier
that day
appear
to show
Fields
rallying
with
Vanguard
America
and
carrying
a shield
bearing
the
group's
insignia.
He wears
the
white
polo
shirt
and
khaki
pants
that are
the
group’s
uniform.
Vanguard
America
were a
highly
visible
presence
at the
Unite
the
Right
rally on
Saturday,
where
they
marched
in
military-style
formation,
and the
torchlight
rally
the
previous
night on
the
University
of
Virginia
campus.
On the
group’s
Twitter
account,
and on
social
media
accounts
belonging
to
regional
chapters,
there
was
extensive
promotion
of the
Unite
the
Right
rally in
the
weeks
leading
up to
the
event.
The
group’s
motto,
"blood
and
soil"
was a
popular
chant at
both
events.
It is
derived
from the
Nazi
slogan "blut
und
boden",
which
links
conceptions
of
racial
purity
with a
particular
national
territory.
In her
comments
to the
HuffPost,
Heyer's
mother
indicated
her
sympathy
for
Fields
and
expressed
concern
for the
hatred
that may
have
motivated
him. "I
think
he’s
still
very
young,
and I'm
sorry he
believed
that
hate
could
fix
problems.
Hate
only
brings
more
hate,"
Bro
said.
"Heather
was not
about
hate,
Heather
was
about
stopping
hatred.
Heather
was
about
bringing
an end
to
injustice."
Describing
the
scene in
the wake
of the
Saturday's
attack
left
Heyer
dead,
the New
York
Daily
News'
Nicole
Hensley
reported
how:
One man
pumped
the
Virginia
native’s
chest
and
another
held an
oxygen
mask to
her face
as state
police
clutched
their
rifles
during
the
chaotic
aftermath
of the
attack.
The
crash
impact
left
Heyer
lying on
the
pavement
alongside
another
bloodied
victim
who was
wearing
a black
shirt
emblazoned
with
words of
protest.
On the
GoFundMe
page in
her
honor,
people
left
messages
of
thanks
and
offered
condolences
to her
friends
and
family.
"Bless
you for
standing
up when
others
did
not,"
said
one.
"Bless
you for
standing
up when
others
did
not."
—message
to
victim
Another
added,
"Please
be proud
of your
girl who
died
standing
against
hate."
"Not
many are
brave
enough
to stand
up to
racism,"
read a
separate
posting.
"I know
plenty
of my
own
people
who
won't
even
stand
up. But
this
woman,
who had
nothing
to loose
or gain
from it,
was
killed
on
behalf
of the
many
POCs who
still
deal
with
racism
on a
daily
basis.
Thank
you for
your
courage
sister.
Much
love!"
Bro said
that she
doesn't
want her
daughter's
death
"to be a
focus
for more
hatred."
"I want
her
death to
be a
rallying
cry for
justice
and
equality
and
fairness
and
compassion,"
she
said.
"No
mother
wants to
lose a
child,
but I'm
proud of
her."
*This
post was
updated
to
include
comments
from
Heyer's
mother,
Susan
Bro.
This
work is
licensed
under a
Creative
Commons
Attribution-Share
Alike
3.0
License