President Biden marked the fourth anniversary of the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., on Thursday with a lengthy statement that described domestic terrorism as “the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland in recent years.”
“We must acknowledge what America’s intelligence community has already confirmed, and what Charlottesville and so many other communities know all too well: the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland in recent years has been domestic terrorism rooted in white supremacy,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House Thursday afternoon. “We cannot ignore it. We must confront the spread of hate-fueled violence in every form.”
Biden also connected the Charlottesville attack – during which an Ohio man drove his car into a crowd protesting the Unite the Right rally, killing one and injuring dozens of people – to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, describing both as “shameful chapters in our history” and reminders that the nation has more work to do to counteract hatred.
“What happened in Charlottesville – and securing the promise of America for every American – motivated me to run for president and now motivates my Administration’s work to ensure that hate has no safe harbor in America,” Biden said.
The deadly attack took place four years ago on Aug. 11 as white nationalists attending the rally protested Charlottesville’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. James Alex Fields Jr., a rally participant, killed 32-year-old Health Heyer when he purposefully drove into a group protesting the rally.
Fields pled guilty to federal hate crime charges in March 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison later that year.
Donald Trump, who was president at the time of the attack, withstood widespread scrutiny for his reaction to the events when he said at a news conference there were fine people on “both sides” of the violence.
Biden mentioned a range of actions he has taken since his inauguration in January, including signing a sweeping executive order to advance racial equity and a presidential memorandum to combat hate crimes and racism against Asian Americans that studies show rose during the coronavirus pandemic and directing his administration to undertake a strategy to combat domestic terrorism.
Biden also noted that the mother of 32-year-old Charlottesville attack victim Health Heyer joined him at a signing ceremony for the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in May. The law includes a provision named after Heyer designed to make hate crimes data more accessible to the public.
“As I told her on that day, I know it’s hard. Even with the significance of the law being changed, it’s like getting the news of her death just seconds ago,” Biden said. “It takes enormous courage. It’s also especially hard on this day of commemoration. Jill and I are thinking about Heather and her family.”