An independent report found that Charlottesville fumbled their duty to protect the public and free speech during the white supremacist rally last August. Not only did the report say the city failed to uphold the right to free speech of the rally sponsors and their opposition, but also in the wake of the rally that the Virginia state police and the police chief Al Thomas blocked the public’s right to know by failing to make commanders available for interviews and making personnel wary of speaking with investigators. (Jurist, December 4, 2017, by Jennifer Suder)
The report headed by former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy found that authorities did not maintain order and stop violence resulting in injury and death. (U.S. News & World Report, December 1, 2017, by Claire Hansen)
Communications snafus contributed to the poor effort but in addition according to the report police were ordered to pull back from violent confrontations. (The Daily Progress, December 1, 2017, by Chris Suarez)
A Charlottesville police captain criticized the Heaphy report accusing the investigators of coming in with preconceived ideas and discarding testimony that ran counter to those ideas. (The Daily Progress, December 4, 2017, by Chris Suarez)