A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation condemning white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups — and specifically declaring the deadly Charlottesville, Va., attack a “domestic terrorist attack.”
The resolution, introduced by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., if passed, would force President Trump to sign and officially be on the record about the Charlottesville violence.
The joint resolution specifically describes the Aug. 12 event that led to the death of Heather Heyer and the injuries of 19 others as a “domestic terrorist attack,” and acknowledges the heroism of Virginia State Police troopers Berke Bates and Lt. Jay Cullen, who died when their helicopter crashed after monitoring the protests.
The senators also call upon President Trump to “improve data collection on hate crimes and to work in a coordinated way to address the growing prevalence of hate groups.”
The Unite the Right rally from Aug. 11-12 in Charlottesville included white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park in Charlottesville. A man linked to white supremacists groups drove his car into a group of counterprotestors, killing Heyer and injuring 19 others.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called the attack domestic terrorism, and the Justice Department began a civil rights investigation into the driver of the car.
Initially, Trump did not denounce white nationalists, but rather said there was “hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides.” He has faced backlash for his initial statement and subsaequent defensive comments about it.
