Jason Kessler—the man behind the “rally” that led to deadly attacks by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the killing of Heather Heyer—wants to hold another racist rally on the one-year anniversary of the traumatic event. NBC29 reports:
Jason Kessler, the organizer of the Unite the Right rally, has applied for a permit to hold a 2-day anniversary rally in Charlottesville next August.
Kessler filed a city of Charlottesville special event application request asking for a permit to hold a 2-day rally in Emancipation Park on August 11 - August 12, 2018.
In the application, he describes the event as a "rally against government civil rights abuse and failure to follow security plans for political dissidents" and "we are opposing any changes to Lee (Emancipation) Park and memorializing the sacrifices made by political dissidents in Lee Park August 12th, 2017."
Over Thanksgiving weekend, Kessler said he expects the permit application will be rejected—and he’s ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure the event will happen. The Root reports a statement on his website says:
When Charlottesville rejects my permit, as I fully expect them to, we will push back. My attorneys will not allow government actors to do any secretive shenanigans to screw us over either. The rally will be orchestrated precisely with clear instructions for where everyone is supposed to go. And this bullshit where they are afraid to remove armed Antifa from the front of the venue will not fly this time around.
As for the violence last year that left three people dead? Well, Kessler just chalks that up to his inexperience—and thinking that the neo-Nazis were simply joking when they said they're planning on committing violence.
We don’t know yet whether the permit will be approved. Considering that a recent scathing report shows the Charlottesville police woefully failed to effectively protect the anti-racist protestors and reduce violence, many activists are rightfully calling for the denial of the permit.