Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old paralegal killed when a car rammed into counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, last Saturday, has said she has “no interest” in speaking to Donald Trump.

“I understand that President Trump wants to speak with me. I’ve heard from his press secretary and a few other people, and it’s not that I’m trying to be callous, it’s that I have no interest in speaking to politicians just to hear them say, ‘I’m sorry,’” Bro told ABC’s Good Morning America.

“If I felt like that’s all they wanted to say, that would be different, but I feel like I’m wanted to be used for political agendas, and I’m resistant to that.”

Bro had initially thanked Trump for his “words of comfort”, but changed her mind following the memorial service for Heyer on Wednesday, after Bro said she saw “an actual clip of him at a press conference equating the protesters … with the KKK and the white supremacists.”

The ABC host, Robin Roberts, asked Bro whether she had spoken directly to the president.

“I have not and now I will not,” Bro said. “At first, I just missed his calls. The first call it looked like actually came during the funeral. I didn’t even see that message. There were three more frantic messages from press secretaries throughout the day.”



At the news conference, Trump sought to blamethe Charlottesville clashes on both groups of protesters. “I think there is blame on both sides,” he said. “And I have no doubt about it. And you don’t have doubt about it either … But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.”

Bro said her daughter was simply “part of a group of human beings who cared to protest”.

“I’ve heard it said that the murder of my daughter was part of making America great,” Bro added. “The blood on the streets, is that what made America great? Attacking innocent people with a vehicle, is that what made America great?”

Trump’s words, she said, would not easily be forgiven. “You can’t wash this one away by shaking my hand and saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m not forgiving for that.”