Neither McAuliffe nor the police should profit one red cent from the book

Survivors of the car attack in Charlottesville confronted former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe at Politics & Prose in NW Washington, DC today as he promoted his new book Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism. Four car attack survivors confronted McAuliffe during the Q&A. The event was then disrupted by another survivor who was unhappy with his responses to their questions. The survivors were joined in chants such as, “cops and the Klan go hand in hand” and “no justice, no peace, no racist police.” They were then escorted out of the book signing by police and continued to speak out on the sidewalk.

The survivors’ demands to McAuliffe include the following:

Give book proceeds to survivors of the car attack, not to the police. Put book tour on hold. Meet with survivors. Stop using Black folks as political currency. Stop denying white supremacists are in the police force and government.

The survivors released the following statement:

Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe’s most recent book is a daft attempt at anti-racism and serves as an absolute characterization of the white savior complex. He not only fails to mention his moral obligation to inhibit the convening of the largest, armed, racist, white nationalist militia group gathering in decades, but he openly idolizes the police officers who participated in and actively endorsed violence by their refusal to intervene and protect anti-racist activists. McAuliffe represents and speaks for white liberal moderates who intellectually understand that racism is wrong but who do not want to do any of the heavy lifting associated with actual change. Neither McAuliffe nor the police should profit one red cent from the book; survivors of the car attack that he failed to prevent are still in need and are much more worthy of support. — Anna Malinowski, Constance Young, Rosia Parker, and Star Peterson

Watch survivors speak at the Q&A, starting at 35 minutes in this live stream!

DONATE TO THE HEAL FUND TO SUPPORT CAR ATTACK SURVIVORS: https://cacfonline.org/heal_charlottesville