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Developments Since the 2017 Charlottesville Protest


Women sit by an impromptu memorial of flowers commemorating the victims at the scene of the car attack on a group of counterprotesters during the "Unite the Right" rally as people continue to react to the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 14,
Women sit by an impromptu memorial of flowers commemorating the victims at the scene of the car attack on a group of counterprotesters during the "Unite the Right" rally as people continue to react to the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 14,

Almost a year ago this week, Charlottesville, Virginia erupted in violence and chaos when white nationalists gathered in the college town to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. By the time the weekend ended, one counterprotester was dead.

Below are some developments that have happened since August 12, 2017.

* Several white nationalists who participated in the rally in Charlottesville were fired from their jobs when they were identified, often via social media.

* The white nationalist movement found itself largely excluded from the traditional media outlets as well as mainstream social media platforms.

* Some of the leaders of the movement were denied PayPal accounts, making it much more difficult to raise money.

* Dozens of cities moved to take down Confederate statues. Of the 1,700 Confederate memorials across the United States, 55 were removed in 2017.

* The Southern Poverty Law Center says the number of hate groups in the country has risen from 917 to 954. Besides white supremacists, they include anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim and black nationalist groups. It also reports a 22% increase in neo-Nazi groups last year, to 121.

* The Anti-Defamation League documented 3,023 incidents of extremism or anti-Semitism in the U.S. in 2017 and 2018.

* Since Charlottesville, the ADL has tracked 54 public events attended by white supremacists.

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