Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is a city in Virginia in the United States. It is named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, King George III's queen. As of 2020, 46,553 people lived there.[1] In 2004, Charlottesville was named the best place to live in the United States in a book named Cities Ranked and Rated. Three American presidents have lived in Charlottesville, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. The University of Virginia is in Charlottesville. President Jefferson's home, Monticello, is also in Charlottesville. Both are popular places for people to visit.

In 2017, far-right political groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and Proud Boys held their Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. They did not want the city to take down a statue of Robert E. Lee.[2] One man drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman called Heather Heyer and injuring many others.[3][4][5] United States President Donald Trump would later say there were "fine people" on both sides of the incident.

References

  1. ↑ "QuickFacts: Charlottesville city, Virginia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  2. ↑ Martin Belam (September 30, 2020). "Proud Boys: who are far-right group that backs Donald Trump?". Guardian. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  3. ↑ KTRK. "Officials: White nationalist rally linked to 3 deaths". abc13.com. Retrieved August 12, 2017. car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally Saturday in a Virginia college town, killing one person, hurting at least two dozen more
  4. ↑ James, Mike (December 14, 2017). "Alleged reckless driver charged with first-degree murder in Charlottesville car attack". USA Today. The video, showed in court by prosecutor Nina-Alice Antony, included some of the final words in the helicopter by crew members, Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, were monitoring the demonstration. About three hours after the airborne officers witnessed Fields's alleged attack and followed his vehicle as it sped away, the helicopter crashed while Cullen and Bates were flying to another assignment, killing both men. The cause of the crash is still under investigation, the Post reported.
  5. ↑ Rankin, Sarah (15 December 2017). "Helicopter video shows ex-Kentucky man accused of ramming crowd; charges increased". kentucky.com. Surveillance footage from a Virginia State Police helicopter, played by prosecutors in court, captured the moment of impact by the car and the cursing of the startled troopers on board. The video then showed the car as it reversed, drove away and eventually pulled over. The helicopter had been monitoring the violence, and prosecutors questioned Charlottesville Police Detective Steven Young about the video as it played.