heather, was killed by a white supremacist just six months ago. can i help you up, mama? do you remember how? yep, just like that. to witness her compassion for a misguided young man like gabe view markable. you want a hug? if you re not comfortable, it s okay to say so. okay. i give mom hugs. at first, i was really reluctant about meeting with heather s mom. seems like you guys connected. yeah. yeah. we did. i m glad she was able to see where i was coming from. this is a big step in gabe s journey, but it s not the last. . (vo love is knowing. it was meant to be. and love always keeps you safe.
i understand. i think that s part of the problem. there is this image of this communist protester, rebel. oh, my gosh. so not her. heather came from a broken home. her dad had drug problems. he s clean now, but he was never clean while she was growing up. heather seemed to just take it all in, but i know it damaged her in ways. gabe, would you mind sharing your upbringing at all with susan? when i was around 7 years old, my mom kind of went off on a bender for a couple years drinking and drugging and dating less than desirable men. one of those less than desirable men tried to kill her on christmas eve while me and my brother were in the house. that was fun.
more than 1,000 counter protestors met them in the street. police lost control. and a governor declared state of emergency. it s 2017. how can you hate somebody you don t know. a lot of people got hit. at 1:40 p.m. nazi sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors. when it was all over, 19 people were injured. and a 32 year-old woman named heather higher was dead.
beginning to see tensions rise here a little bit. we are in a bit of an ebb right now. police officers here are decked out in riot gear. they have helmets on, padded gloves, batons as well as sidearms. they are prepared to go in if necessary. we are at the intersection right now where heather higher was mowed down by a white supremacist last year. that street, the particular area where she died is blocked off to pedestrians. early this morning about 9:00 there was a rally for the social justice group in a park, booker t. washington park. it was a group much larger than the 50 which a permit is required. much larger than that. they did not have a permit together in that park. yet the police a show of tremendous restraint, let them have that rally there. they did not show any kind of
charlottesville? well, there s obviously the memory of heather higher who stood as civil rights activists did throughout the long and tragic jim crow area, stood for what we should be, not necessarily what we are all the time. and so i think that s the most perhaps one of the most important things to take a moment and realize that someone gave her life trying to protest against the neo-nazi and chancemen who gathered there a year ago. i think when the history of this ear is written, the president reaction to charlottesville, the events of august 11th and august 12th will loom pretty large because that was the first moment maybe not the first, but a significant moment where the president seemed to have a very hard time figuringing out whether he stood with people like heather heyer who argued we had to be part inside with our better angels or did he stand with david duke and others.