“The fight against voter suppression and fake news and voter fraud is the fight of our day,” he said. “Those who sought to deny the right to vote now seek to suppress the right.”

Jackson was critical of President Donald Trump’s handling of the events in Charlottesville. Days after the violence, the president said there were good people on both sides, which caused widespread criticism.

“The president’s inability to call out white supremacists, KKK and neo-Nazis caused many to be embarrassed,” Jackson said.

When Jackson spoke about Heyer, he placed her in the same lineage of Rosa Parks and the four girls who died in a Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing in 1963.

“Heather is in that lineage,” he said. “That lineage has led to remarkable progress.”

Shortly before Jackson spoke, a song was performed in remembrance not only of Heyer, but of two Virginia State Police troopers who died in a helicopter crash after assisting in law enforcement’s rally response.

The song was a repeated melody of “Love, once again, break our hearts open wide.”