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Members of a handful of organizations in Springfield are expected to gather downtown as a peaceful response after protests turned violent in Charlottesville, Va., this past weekend. A woman was killed when authorities allege an Ohio man plowed down a group of people protesting a white supremacist rally.
“We felt it was necessary to stand out against violence of any kind, as well as racism and hatred,” Minerd said.
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The roughly hour-long event in Springfield will include guest speakers but Minerd said it will mostly serve as a quiet observation of recent events.
“It’s not a rally,” Minerd said. “It’s a more solemn event where we’re going to stand with those people who are fighting for equality.”
Community leaders have an obligation to stand up to intolerance when given the opportunity, Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland said.
“What happened in Virginia is a terrible statement about where we are in America,” Copeland said. “It’s critically important that those of us in leadership make clear we do not support racism and therefore I’m willing to speak at events that support us living together instead of dividing.”
The violence that unfolded in Charlottesville could “further motivate” white nationalists, a local expert warned.
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The man who drove the car, James Alex Fields Jr., has been charged with second degree murder, meaning it was in some form premeditated, said Patrick Oliver, associate professor of criminal justice at Cedarville University.
It’s too early to tell exactly what will come from the incidents in Virginia but repercussions are likely, including copycat attacks, said Glenn Duerr, an associate professor of international relations at Cedarville University.
“There are various areas of potential flash-points where we could see more protests and counter-protests,” Duerr told the Springfield News-Sun.
The rally and violence in Charlottesville seem like something of a bygone era, Duerr said, making it both a surprise and a reminder of just how prevalent fascist ideals are.
The killing of the counter-protester checks “most of the boxes” of being considered domestic terrorism, he said, and national leaders need to do more to disavow the hate of white nationalists to better prevent such violence.
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The event also has the potential to launch a second civil rights movement in America, Duerr said.
Further responses to the attack will depend on what dominates the cycle of current events, he said, suggesting that North Korea’s nuclear capabilities could easily steal the attention of public leaders soon.
While the attack will likely serve as a “stain on the shimmer of the United States” it likely won’t serve as a potent example of domestic terrorism like the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
“It really does depend on what happens in the next little bit,” Duerr said. “As a terrorist attack, it will rank low but given this connection to a wider narrative it could get put in a history book some day.”
Centerville police are aware of social media reports linking three southwest Ohio men to the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, an officer told this newsroom.
Centerville officers made contact with officers at the Mason Police Department about at least one of the men, said Officer John Davis, the Centerville Police Department community relations officer.
Davis said the department is trying to be proactive.
“We’re aware of the reports, and we’re looking into how they might affect the different jurisdictions,” Davis said. “If somebody’s looking for them, there could be a potential problem.”
“They’ve all got connections to Centerville, but I don’t know that any of them are living in Centerville,” he said.
The identities of the three men have been discussed widely in social media as part of a national effort to identify individuals who participated in the white-supremacist gathering. This news organization has attempted to contact the men identified as southwest Ohio residents.
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