Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Mark Warner, D-Va., are requesting the Justice Department provide an update on how the agency has executed a resolution denouncing white nationalists and supremacists, a request that comes as the anniversary of the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville approaches.
The August 12, 2017 Unite the Right rally, which was organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, resulted in the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer, who died after a self-identified neo-Nazi drove a vehicle into a crowd. Virginia State Police Troopers Lt. H. Jay Cullen III and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates were also killed in a helicopter crash while policing the event.
In response, President Trump signed a resolution in September that condemns white nationalists and supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups. It also encouraged the executive branch and the administration to address the threat of these groups.
“As you implement this request, we are particularly interested if you have implemented, or plan to implement, the following: the creation of a task force dedicated to addressing hate violence, sufficient funding for civil rights offices, robust data collection procedures to document the prevalence and nature of hate crimes in the U.S., a federal website on hate violence to convene resources and communicate effectively to the public, the development of incentives for participation in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hate Crime Statistics Act reports, increased training and education for jurisdictions that underreport hate crimes, and the use of grants to promote strong enforcement on these issues,” Kaine and Warner wrote in a letter to acting assistant attorney general John Gore dated Friday.
[Related: DC mayor activates city’s emergency safety plan ahead of white supremacist rally]
As the one-year anniversary of the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville approaches, @timkaine & I are *still* pressing the Trump Administration for action to combat hate violence. pic.twitter.com/FwI8nVJhcm
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) August 10, 2018
The lawmakers requested a response from the Justice Department within 30 days.
Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and the City of Charlottesville declared states of emergency for Virginia and Charlottesville earlier this week, effective from August 10 to 12, as various events are planned to commemorate the anniversary.
Jason Kessler, who spearheaded the original white supremacist rally last year, is slated to hold a Unite the Right 2 protest on Sunday, but in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., directly in front of the White House.
Trump faced backlash for his initial comments on the Charlottesville events last year when he said “both sides” shared blame for the violence.
