Charlottesville police chief retires in wake of scathing report

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 19 December 2017

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.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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