The Washington Post - 05.08.2019

C2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, AUGUST 5 , 2019

opened the room for questions.

There was a rush to the

microphones, and then things

took a turn.

The first question — then the

second, third and fourth — were

all from women who identified

themselves as survivors of the

Charlottesville protest. Two of

them said they had been

physically injured, while the

other two said they were

traumatized by the events of the

day. They were, as it became

clear, unhappy with McAuliffe’s

support of the city and state

police, and his pledge to donate

part of the book profits to the

state police association.

McAuliffe agreed with their

request to meet with them and

donate a portion to a fund to pay

survivors’ medical expenses.

A solid win for the activists,

who then snatched defeat from

the jaws of victory, by berating

the governor (“Your negligence is

the reason why I have chronic

PSTD”), comparing the police to

the Ku Klux Klan (“Cops and the

Klan go hand in hand”), and

causing the exasperated liberal,

upper-middle-class crowd to

finally boo the women for

hijacking the event. Yelling

ensued, chants were started,

police were called, and the

protesters were moved to the

public sidewalk in front of the

store.

This was the third protest this

year at the venerable bookstore,

a cherished stop for any political

author: the first when Latinos

protested former homeland

security secretary Janet

Napolitano’s immigration

policies, and the second when

white nationalists disrupted a

book talk by Jonathan Metzl.

Both of those erupted at the

beginning of the events, and the

protesters were escorted out.

The store braced for white

nationalists to show up for

McAuliffe’s book, too — instead

they got anti-police activists.

“These are very challenging

situations for any

establishment,” said co-owner

Bradley Graham. “People are

angrier — that’s not news.

There’s a lot of tension and stress

in the air.

“It’s a particular challenge for

P and P and other bookstores

that hold events open to the

public, that believe in the

mission to promote dialogue.

But with that comes a certain

need to maintain decorum and

civility, so people can be heard.

What’s really bothersome is

when people don’t respect that

code of behavior and ruin the

event for everybody.”

McAuliffe, a longtime political

veteran, was unfazed. A bit more

excitement than expected, he

said, but “it’s okay; [protesters]

are entitled to come.” He quickly

moved to the bright side of the

night: He signed every one of his

books — more than 160 — until

they sold out.

— Roxanne Roberts

our country. People didn’t like to

talk about it. Charlottesville

forced us to have that

conversation.”

The first half of the book is a

detailed examination of how the

two days unfolded, including

McAuliffe’s conversation with

President Trump, and the deaths

of Heather Heyer and two state

troopers. Heyer was killed when

a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi

rammed a car into a crowd of

counterprotesters. The two state

troopers (both of whom had

worked directly with the

governor) died when their

helicopter crashed. The second

half of the book looks at where

we go from here.

“I don’t blame the president of

the United States — Donald

Trump — for specific acts,” t he

lifelong Democrat told the

audience. He does blame Trump

“for his language, his actions, the

divisiveness, the hatred that he

has brought to this country.” A

language, McAuliffe said, “that

people feel is comfortable to

walk down the streets and say it.

They didn’t feel comfortable,

they would not do this, under

Barack Obama, they would not

do this under George Bush, they

would not do this under Bill

Clinton.”

The release of the book

Tuesday came in the midst of yet

another national debate about

race — the president’s tweets

that four Democratic minority

members of Congress should “go

back” from the “crime infested

places from which they came,”

followed by his attacks on Rep.

Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and

Baltimore.

“It was Charlottesville when

Donald Trump came out as a

full-fledged racist — and I don’t

say that lightly,” McAuliffe said.

“This is a pattern he has. He’s

divided the country. We need

someone who can bring the

country back together again.”

As he wound up his remarks,

McAuliffe noted that the

proceeds of the book were going

to the Heather Heyer

Foundation and the Virginia

State Police Association, and he

A fancy book talk. An
overeducated crowd. A protest,
complete with chanting and
booing. Just another day in
Washington.
Former Virginia governor
Te rry McAuliffe stopped by
Politics and Prose on Thursday
night to chat about his new book
“Beyond Charlottesville: Ta king
a Stand Against White
Nationalism.” I t was the first of
his two appearances in the
nation’s capital — part of a high-
profile national tour — with a
standing-room-only audience
eager to hear his take on the
event that shocked the nation
two years ago.
“Racism exists,” McAuliffe
said. “For far too long, people
felt it wasn’t an issue anymore in

The Reliable Source

Helena Andrews-Dyer and Emily Heil

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At his book discussion, Te rry McAuliffe greets readers — and protesters

When I went to bed last night hundreds of

@MomsDemand volunteers were

marching in DC following the horrific

shooting in #elpaso. When I woke up,

there had been another tragic shooting in

#Dayton. My outrage is exhausted,

replaced by resolve to #EndGunViolence.”

— Actress Julianne Moore in a Sunday tweet following the

weekend’s shootings. Moore was one of a number of

celebrities who took to social media to call on the Senate to

pass gun control legislation.

VIANNEY LE CAER/INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS

EVELYN HOCKSTEIN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Terry McAuliffe, left, came to Politics and Prose in Washington to promote his book “Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against

White Nationalism.” Activists later took over the event, right, but the former Virginia governor remained unfazed.

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