The mother of the woman killed in the Charlottesville rally last year on Sunday pleaded with the public to remember that her daughter was there to “support equality.”
“She was here to support equality, she was here to support affordable housing, she was here to support taking care of people the way you would want to be taken care of,” Susan Bro said during the anniversary of last year's "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left 19 people injured, three dead and elevated racial tensions in America.
“The Golden Rule still applies – I don’t care how old you are,” she continued. “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Heyer, the 32-year-old civil rights activist, was killed when James Alex Fields, Jr., a man with alleged neo-Nazi ties, plowed through a crowd of counter-protesters during the “Unite the Right” rally. Two Virginia state troopers also died when their helicopter crashed as they helped monitor the scene.
Fields was later charged with federal hate crimes.
Bro, who embraced supporters Sunday after laying flowers at the spot her daughter was killed, said there was “still so much healing to do.”
“We have a huge racial problem in our city and in our country. We have got to fix this or we will be right back here in no time,” she added.
In Washington, D.C., a group of far-right demonstrators gathered for the so-called "Unite the Right II" march toward the White House, but were met by dozens of law enforcement officers and hundreds of counterprotesters.
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