Rep. Louie Gohmert said Sunday the Justice Department should investigate Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer and “Unite the Right” rally organizer Jason Kessler for their roles in violent clashes that resulted the death of an anti-racism protester at last Saturday’s rally.
In an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Mr. Gohmert said there should be a Justice Department investigation into who is responsible for what occurred in Charlottesville, where white nationalists and neo-Nazis clashed with anti-fascists counterprotesters. He appeared to place the blamed on the political left without offering any specific proof.
“They were [behind] the violence at Trump events, and they may have been behind this violence getting started,” the Texas Republican said.
Mr. Gohmert said Mr. McAuliffe and Michael Signer, both Democrats, previously had said there would be violence in Charlottesville.
“Then the witnesses and the photographs show they herded these groups to create violence so they could brag,” said Mr. Gohmert.
The Texas lawmaker also is calling for the Justice Department to look into Mr. Kessler, a nationalist blogger who helped organize the rally and heads a nonprofit called Unity & Security for America, aimed at protecting Western civilization.
Mr. Kessler told Fox News on Thursday he is in hiding after the violence. He said his group is a “civil rights group” and does not include white supremacists. He said he voted for President Barack Obama in 2008.
“You don’t just all of a sudden go from having multiracial roommates and a Jewish girlfriend to all of a sudden being a white supremacist that wants to join the Republican Party,” Mr. Gohmert said of Mr. Kessler. “There is something very, very wrong in all of this.”
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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