Investigator: Some officials resisted Charlottesville review
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — An independent report that found serious police and government failures in responding to violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville this...
...Heaphy's report was sharply critical of Thomas' response as the violence began to escalate that day.
According to the report, as brawling first broke out, Thomas said,
"Let them fight, it will make it easier to declare an unlawful assembly."
Thomas did not recall making that statement, which was cited in accounts by two other police employees, though he confirmed he waited to "see how things played out" before declaring an unlawful assembly, the report said.
"Chief Thomas' slow-footed response to violence put the safety of all at risk and created indelible images of this chaotic event," it said.
The report also said T
homas initially tried to limit access to certain information by directing subordinates not to answer certain questions. And it said
Thomas and other Charlottesville police command staff deleted text messages relevant to the investigation.
Kevin Martingayle, an attorney for Thomas, said the chief disputes that...
...State police allowed Heaphy's team to interview the agency's leader and two troopers not present the day of the rally. But the report said
state police refused requests to interview four others "important to our evaluation" and turned over just one document...
...Virginia's Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran was initially willing to cooperate with Heaphy's investigation, the report says, but
Moran's office later invoked executive privilege over certain information amid concerns about possible litigation against the state...
http://www.cetusnews.com/news/Invest...ymy-p1lZM.html
https://www.apnews.com/19ada56664ca4...esville-review
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