WASHINGTON - The Green Party of the United States is calling for vigorous prosecution of white supremacist groups responsible for the violence, injuries, and deaths that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, August 12.



Greens said that the violence inflicted on anti-racist counter-protesters, including a car driven into a crowd that killed one person and injured more than two dozen others, was a deliberate act of domestic terrorism.



The Green Party strongly condemns the white supremacists and their rally and violent actions and expressed solidarity with all those who participated in the counter-demonstrations.



White supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations thrive on violence and threats of death and mayhem. They support a violent overthrow of the U.S. government and various forms of subjugation, expulsion, and extermination for all people of color, LGBTs, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, and anyone who doesn't conform to their vision of a white gentile male-dominated society based on an extremist "blood and soil" ideology.



The violence on the University of Virginia campus was consistent with the openly expressed intention of white supremacist groups to provoke a "race war" and clearly fits the definition of terrorism.



President Trump responded by casting blame "on many sides," as if peaceful anti-racist protesters were responsible for the attacks they suffered.



The president's reaction betrayed the influence of advisors like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, who have ties to fanatical far-right, neo-Nazi, anti-Muslim, and white supremacist organizations. Greens said that Mr. Trump's loyalty to these staffers makes him unfit to occupy the White House. (On Monday, the president condemned "criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups" after widespread criticism of his initial response on Saturday.)



The Green Party counts nonviolence and respect for diversity among its Ten Key Values and has endorsed Black Lives Matter and its demand for racial justice. The party also recognizes and upholds the right of self-defense, in keeping with the Key Value of nonviolence. Greens support efforts to eradicate racism and other forms of discrimination, including removal of public monuments that glorify Confederate leaders and military personnel.



See also:

Green Party Black Caucus

Charlottesville Was Not a "Protest Turned Violent," It Was a Planned Race Riot

By Zenobia Jeffries, Yes! Magazine, August 12, 2017

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