August marks six years since the white supremacist violence and murder in Charlottesville, VA. The organizers of the rallies were successfully sued by Integrity First for America, and Heather Heyer’s killer was found guilty in federal court and sentenced to life in prison on federal hate crime charges.
NIOT was honored to present our new film to the Charlottesville community and continue the discussion about community efforts to respond to hate.
Blog
August 6, 2023 - 12:39pm
Our team was in Pittsburgh in August as the trial of the killer at the Tree of Life concluded. On a personal level, I will never forget these August days and what we witnessed in the courtroom. I cannot imagine how the families and survivors have been able to endure this journey through the trial. They have shown tremendous courage and expressed their appreciation to the courts and the prosecution for seeking justice for them and their loved ones. We hope that the end of this part of the journey offers some relief. Patrice O'Neill
The families, survivors and community members who experienced the October 2018 massacre at Tree of Life synagogue have been in court for two months, listening to excruciatingly challenging testimony from witnesses recounting the brutal and calculated attack, experts who addressed the killer's motive, and defense witnesses who argued that the killer had a deeply troubled childhood, family and history of mental illness. (Editors note: NIOT does not further publicize the name of the man convicted of the attack.)
July 6, 2023 - 9:21am
It has been said by many that the US is “the greatest country in the world.” How we have come to that conclusion of measurement, we may never know but I guess this is much more of a sentimental emotional gesture of pride rather than an objective quantifiable fact. Nonetheless, Independence Day means a lot to us as Americans and our hope is that we can continue to further fulfill the promise of this great democracy and continue to evolve towards a more perfect and equitable union where we can truly stand behind that statement.
June 17, 2023 - 3:35pm
Remembering Charleston and Addressing Anti-Black Hate by Pardeep Kaleka
June 17 marks eight years of mourning the beautiful lives lost at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC at the hands of white supremacist. Still, our country has much to learn about anti-Black racism, hate, and violence.
May 14, 2023 - 1:53pm
On May 14, 2022, an 18-year-old white man armed with an assault rifle attacked shoppers and workers at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people and wounding three others. In a racist and antisemitic rant posted online beforehand, the gunman described himself as a white supremacist motivated by the "great replacement theory." Mayor Byron Brown said the suspect arrived in Buffalo intending to take "as many black lives as possible."
One year later, the community of Buffalo continues to mourn the 10 souls lost. However, the community over that time has also come to honor those lives lost by actively working against the rising tide of anti-black hate.