CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Mourners will gather in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday to honor the woman who was killed when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally that descended into violence last weekend.
A memorial service for Heather Heyer is scheduled Wednesday morning at a downtown Charlottesville theater. Attendees were asked to wear purple, Heyer’s favorite color, in her memory.
The 32-year-old was a Charlottesville resident and legal assistant whose mother described her daughter as a courageous, principled woman and firm believer in justice and equality.
Heyer was among the hundreds of protesters who had gathered Saturday in Charlottesville to decry what was believed to be the largest gathering of white supremacists in a decade – including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members. They descended on the city for a rally prompted by the city’s decision to remove a Confederate monument.
Chaos and violence erupted before the event even began, with counter-demonstrators and rally-goers clashing in the streets.