Charlottesville police chief retires in wake of scathing report

A memorial to Heather Heyer.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The chief of police in Charlottesville, Virginia, announced on Monday he is retiring, following months of criticism and the release earlier this month of an unfavorable independent report focusing on the way he handled the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in August.

During the rally, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters. In a statement, Police Chief Alfred Thomas said he "will be forever grateful for having had the opportunity to protect and serve a community I love so dearly." Thomas was made police chief in April 2016.

A 220-page report issued this month found that Thomas and city officials made numerous mistakes, not only on the day of the Unite the Right rally but also in the months leading up to it, NPR reports. His response to the chaos that unfolded was "slow-footed," the report said, and he made officers who spoke to investigators afraid of retaliation. His attorney denied this, as well as claims that he deleted text messages relevant to the investigation.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.