New York, NY . . . Leaders of the Conference of Presidents today strongly condemned the violence and hateful expressions of bigotry by white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend, and expressed condolences to the families of Heather Heyer and the two Charlottesville police officers whose lives were tragically lost.
Stephen M. Greenberg, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO said,
“We add our strong condemnation to those leaders in government, religious bodies, the media, civil society and the business community who have clearly and forcefully denounced the white supremacists and neo-Nazi messages of hate which incited murderous violence in Charlottesville, resulting in the death of Heather Heyer and injuries to many others. We send our condolences to the Heyer family and to the families of the police officers.
The overt racism, anti-Semitism, bigotry and wanton acts of violence unleashed on the streets of Charlottesville are a chilling example of the damage hate inflicts on our society and a tragic reminder of the responsibility we all have to identify and call out the perpetrators of these vile manifestations.
While eliminating hate or preventing the haters from spewing vile ideas is not possible, we can and must isolate them, ensure they are condemned by our elected leaders and the overwhelming majority of the American people, and urge authorities at all levels to act against them.
We welcome the announcement by Attorney General Sessions that the Justice Department has commenced a full investigation and will be devoting substantial resources of the federal government to the efforts of state and local law enforcement in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”
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