“Charlottesville” — not the nice little city, home of “Mr. Jefferson” and the University of Virginia, but the late unpleasantness of the Unite The Right rally last August — still reverberates.
Most of the commentary has focused on the violence ostensibly inflicted on the city by the “invasion” of the right-wing demonstrators, especially their violation of the University of Virginia grounds with their tiki torch-lit demonstration on the night of August 12, which in fact succeeded in provoking attacks. That and other violence by the antifa-led counter-protestors has been less noticed, at least by many commentators.
But one example was hard to ignore, and now Corey Long, 23, has been found guilty of “disorderly conduct” for — are you ready for this? — “using a homemade flamethrower.” He was also charged with assault and battery, but that charge was dropped when his alleged victim could not be located.
Long’s progressive supporters, of course, see him as something of a hero. “Dozens of Long’s supporters gathered outside of Charlottesville General District Court this morning to demand that the charges against the young man be dropped,” reports the Charlottesville Daily Progress. “Chanting ‘Corey Long did nothing wrong,’ activists have been protesting the charges since Long was arrested in October.”
