That’s right, Donald Trump is coming to Charlottesville – site of the infamous white supremacist rally in August 2017 (about which Trump infamously claimed there were “very fine people on BOTH SIDES”!) today. See below for some information about where and when to protest. And for some background on what happened in 2017, see Video, Photos: White Supremacist/Neo-Nazi Rally in Charlottesville, Video: Funeral service for Heather Heyer, who was killed during Charlottesville protests, Brennan Gilmore: Trump Does Not Want Compromise, Because “a unified America is a threat to him”, and appallingly, as always with Trump – Video: Donald Trump, Disgusting and Warped as Always, Calls August 2017 Neo-Nazi March in Charlottesville “a little peanut,” “nothing”…
Fmr. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA05): “Today Donald Trump has the nerve to come back to Charlottesville, Virginia – not to apologize for inspiring a mob of heavily armed hate groups and neo-Nazis to invade our town, not to apologize to the family of Heather Heyer for her death and sacrifice that day. The kind of person who looks that day, at neo-Nazis coming into these streets, and sees people of every race and faith kneeling in counter protest, and says ‘you had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent’. I was in the streets that day and I saw people say they were there because of Donald Trump…and Trump is not coming to apologize, he’s coming to continue his grift, because that’s the only thing he cares about. Heather Heyer lived a life of purpose, he spent every day trying to make our community more compassionate, more just, more racially equal, and she died for something she believed in. So I hope today we’ll try to do one thing that honors that legacy, one thing to make our community a more beloved community, a more inclusive and democratic community. I’ll try to do that today and I call you to do the same.”
From Progress Virginia:
Trump Takes a Break From Delicate Iran Negotiations For An Attempted Fundraiser In A City That Hates Him
Charlottesville– On Wednesday night, just a day after Trump spent 24 hours threatening genocide in Iran, reports started appearing in the local press that the FAA would be closing the airspace around Charlottesville and limiting flights to aircraft “DIRECTLY SUPPORTING THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE (USSS) AND THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES”. Yesterday, residents learned that Trump would be visiting the Charlottesville area for the first time since he famously refused to condemn the violence at the white nationalist Unite the Right rally, claiming there were “very fine people on both sides.” His reason for coming in the midst of an international crisis caused by his war-of-choice in Iran? A fundraiser at the Trump Winery, owned nominally by the president’s son Eric Trump.
“Charlottesville has not forgotten what happened in August 2017, and we have demonstrated our opposition to Trump and his agenda at the ballot box over and over,” said Ashleigh Crocker, Interim Executive Director at Progress Virginia. “Donald Trump is not welcome here, and the fact that he’s chosen to return not for any public purpose, but to fundraise at a winery that exploits foreign workers at below-minimum wage while his own tariffs gut the American wine industry, tells you everything you need to know about his priorities. Our community is watching, and we will make our voices heard.”
Trump has not spent time in Charlottesville since before Unite the Right, where dozens of community members were seriously injured, and Heather Heyer was killed by a white nationalist counterprotester. In the 2024 election, Charlottesville City voted +69 for Kamala Harris: in all of Virginia, only Petersburg had a higher Harris vote (+73). Albemarle County, where the winery is located, went +34 for Harris. Protests are planned along Trump’s route from the airport to the vineyard on Friday.
PROTEST INFORMATION
When: 4:30 PM
Where: Three locations along Trump’s anticipated route from CHO to Trump Winery:
• Corner of Proffit/Airport Road and 29 at the old Walgreens
• Stonefield Shops on 29
• Corner of Rt 20 and Rt 53 near Saunders Monticello trail parking area.
From Virginians for Fair Elections:
