Existing comment:
2018 Breaking News
Deadly Virginia
Protest
Ryan M. Kelly
The Daily Progress
Aug. 12, 2017, Charlottesville, Va.
For months, photographer Ryan Kelly had been covering the anger brewing in Charlottesville, Va., over a plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
As darkness fell on Aug. 11, 2017, hundreds of white nationalists bearing torches and tear gas marched toward the University of Virginia campus, chanting, "White lives matter!" and "Jews will not replace us!"
The next day, the Unite the Right rally exploded in violence. Protesters and counterprotesters traded punches and swung clubs. By noon, the city had declared a state of emergency.
Kelly followed counterprotesters as they began to disperse. Suddenly, a gray Dodge Challenger plowed through the crowd. Bodies flew. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed; 19 others were injured. The driver fled but was quickly arrested.
"I wish the attack didn't happen," Kelly said. "I wish I didn't have to witness it. But since it did happen, and I was on that street, I'm proud this photo exists so that the world can never forget exactly what violence and hatred looks like." |