Sometimes things get worse before they get better. I hope this fits that pattern.
Alt-right, white supremacists showed up and made a mess, but they seem to have paid for it in the year since. They've drawn a ton of ire. They've been in the news, court, and fanned the flames of counter-protests. The guy who was a front-man for the A12 rally tired to hold a rally in DC this year. Only the turnout was extremely low.....if you were in the rally at least. There were a lot more people protesting the protest than participating in it.
Things were mostly calmer back in Cville.
Mostly.
Last year, the police were accused of being ill prepared. This year, they did the opposite.
There were a pair of helicopters circling, hundreds of extra officers, and blockades when Shane and I rolled into town.
I spotted my school's SRO in the back of a patrolling golf cart as we drove by (I'm going to tell him I saw him joy-riding the next time I see him!).
It was heavy overkill. A cruiser rolled down our street and did a quick look while I was out playing with Shane and Raheem. Rah asked me why there were so many police driving around.
Thankfully, there wasn't much trouble. Protesters protesting last year's protest and the heavy police presence blocked some streets walking arm in arm at times and caused some friction, but there was nothing that caused violence. There was a slander campaign online against a local church claiming that they had refused to help police, but the city quickly released a tweet saying they had never contacted the church at all.
Here's to hoping that next year and the ones after are peaceful.
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