Heather Heyer Identified As Woman Killed When Car Plowed Into Crowd Following Charlottesville Rally: The Two-Way: NPR
Charlottesville Victim Heather Heyer ‘Stood Up’ Against What She Felt Was Wrong
One day after a car plowed into a group of people protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., the victim of that attack has been identified as Heather Heyer. The Charlottesville resident was thirty two years old.
Two state troopers, Pilot Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, also died Saturday, when their helicopter crashed en route to the scene of the violence. Dozens of other people were treated for injuries across the day, including nineteen from the car crash.
Heather Heyer, 32, died on Saturday after a car plowed into a crowd of anti-racist protesters following a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Courtesy of Justin Marks hide caption
Heather Heyer, 32, died on Saturday after a car plowed into a crowd of anti-racist protesters following a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Courtesy of Justin Marks
Heyer’s friend and co-worker Courtney Commander told NPR that the two of them had debated whether to go to this weekend’s counterprotest and that Heyer was worried about the potential of violence.
“She said to us many times like ‘I want to go so bad, but I just don’t want to die. I’m so frightened because these people are so serious,’ and she was the only one that lost her life,” said Commander, who worked with Heyer at Miller Law Group in Charlottesville. “I just feel so bad.”
Commander said that before this weekend, Heyer had not attended protests but often spoke out about issues.
“Heather denounced any type of discrimination, not just racism,” Commander said. “She stood up for gay rights — and just anything she felt like was wrong, she stood for.”
Heyer grew up a little north of Charlottesville, where Justin Marks very first met her in high school.
“She had the thickest sense of humor; her wit was unparalleled,” Marks said. “She could debate anyone under the table and she had an reaction for everything; she was just awake.”
Via the day on Sunday, people delivered candles, notes of sympathy and flowers to the site where Heyer died, reports Mallory Noe-Payne of member station WVTF. And in a statement of condolence, the city of Charlottesville called Heyer’s death a “senseless act of violence.”
“While it will never make up for the loss of a member of our community, we will pursue charges against the driver of the vehicle that caused her death and are certain justice will prevail,” the statement said.
Virginia State Police said the helicopter carrying troopers Cullen and Bates was “assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation” before falling into a wooded area in Albemarle County, where Charlottesville is located.
Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, was described as “a highly-respected professional aviator.” Virginia State Police via AP hide caption
Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, was described as “a highly-respected professional aviator.”
Virginia State Police via AP
State police, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board proceed to investigate the cause of the helicopter crash, however they say there is “no indication of foul play being a factor.”
Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty collective his condolences in the department’s statement.
“Our state police and law enforcement family at-large are mourning this tragic outcome to an already challenging day,” he said. “Their deaths are a tremendous loss to our agency and the Commonwealth.”
Cullen of Midlothian, Va., “was a highly-respected professional aviator,” Flaherty said.
The 48-year-old trooper graduated from the Virginia State Police Academy in one thousand nine hundred ninety four as a member of the 90th Basic Session. He joined the Virginia State Police Aviation Unit in one thousand nine hundred ninety nine and is survived by his wifey and two sons.
Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, 40, was called “a welcome addition” to the State Police Aviation Unit, which he joined in July. Virginia State Police via AP hide caption
Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, 40, was called “a welcome addition” to the State Police Aviation Unit, which he joined in July.
Virginia State Police via AP
Fellow trooper Bates of Quinton, Va., would have turned forty one years old on Sunday, police said.
Bates had just joined the aviation unit in July — “a welcome addition,” Flaherty said, “after a distinguished assignment as a special agent with our Bureau of Criminal Investigation.”
In 2004, he graduated from the state police academy as a member of the 107th Basic Session. Bates is survived by his wifey, son and daughter.
The city of Charlottesville also voiced its sorrow over the deaths of Cullen and Bates.
“Virginia State Police Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke M. M. Bates were working with the Charlottesville Police and their brothers and sisters in the Virginia State Police to help ensure the safety of the many city residents and visitors who were in Charlottesville yesterday,” the statement read.
“These studs gave their lives in the line of duty and our gratitude to them cannot be overstated.”
