PD Editorial: Choosing the right ‘side' in Virginia is the easy part

Although President Donald Trump blamed “many sides” for the gut-wrenching violence that took place in Virginia over the weekend, let’s set the record straight. “Many sides” were not to blame for the death of Heather D. Heyer. One person was to blame - one person evidently fueled by the bigoted and hateful creeds of white supremacist groups, which had gathered for one of the largest protests of like-minded individuals the nation has seen in years. And Heyer, a 32-year-old Charlottesville paralegal, had the misfortune of being caught in the crosshairs.

Heyer was killed Saturday when a Dodge Challenger plowed into a crowd of peaceful protesters leaving a rally where many had confronted neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other supporters of white supremacist groups. According to police, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, a man who had taken part in the alt-right rallies and was known to hold neo-Nazi views, was behind the wheel. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and hit and run. Another 19 people were injured in the accident, including several who are reported to be clinging to life.

Later, two other deaths occurred when a Virginia State Police helicopter crashed near the city while monitoring the chaos of the protests and the violence. Two troopers were killed.

After heavy criticism for his tepid “many sides” blame-everyone posture on Saturday, Trump responded on Monday with a stronger condemnation of the antics and rhetoric of the alt-right groups. “Racism is evil,” he said, “and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”

It was a more fitting condemnation of the antics of demonstrators who chanted Nazi slogans such as “blood and soil” and “one people, one nation, end immigration” as they paraded with burning tiki torches through the University of Virginia campus beginning on Friday night. But his remarks were too little, too late - and came with no apology for or clarification of his earlier stance.

At the same time, cooler minds must prevail. A campaign is now underway to out those who joined in the alt-right protests in Charlottesville. One man, who worked at a well-known Berkeley hot dog stand, lost his job on Monday. Another, a student at University of Nevada-Reno, says he has received at least five death threats while the campus is being pressured to have him expelled.

But education should be encouraged, not taken away. A more fitting response to this tragic episode in U.S. history is robust debate, not retribution. If this campaign to identify those who participated in the white supremacist marches has shown anything it’s that this is not a problem contained to the borders of Virginia or even the Southern states. It’s a U.S. problem, one that has spread from an East Coast college founded by Thomas Jefferson to a West Coast hot dog stand. And it’s a problem that the nation is going to have to address on its own, without the help of a president who can’t seem to decide which “side” to defend.

Here’s a tip, Mr. President. Support the side that isn’t carrying swastikas. It’s a position that has served this country well for more than 75 years. And it will again.