The mother of Heather Heyer, the woman killed in Saturday’s racially motivated terrorist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, is now receiving threats on her own life.
In an interview with NBC News, Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, said she is receiving death threats not long after having to bury her 32-year-old daughter.
Bro lays at least some of the blame on Trump, who she says has given cover to the “marginalized” groups of people that participated in the white supremacist rallies over the weekend.
“I think the president has found a niche in voters of the people who feel marginalized and I think he has continued to nurture those marginalized voters,†she said, according to NBC News. “I’ve had death threats already … because of what I’m doing right this second.”
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“Despite the threats,” NBC News added, “Bro said she refuses to live in fear and has vowed to continue to carry on her daughter’s legacy by establishing a foundation in her name.”
Since the attack, she has spoken out loudly against the hatred put on display in Charlottesville and criticized Trump’s despicable response to the racially motivated violence that led to her daughter’s death – but she refuses to be silenced.
“They tried to kill my child to shut her up,” she said after the attack. “But guess what? You just magnified her.”
Meanwhile, while people like Susan Bro show courage and resolve in the face of violence and bigotry, the President of the United States has decided to stand on the side of those who created the toxic environment that contributed to her daughter’s death.
If Donald Trump needs a lesson on how to respond to what unfolded in Charlottesville this past weekend, he should look to Heather Heyer’s mother, who has done what he has so far refused to do – stand up to the white supremacist hatred that took her daughter’s life.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.