Heather Heyer’s mother vows her daughter will not be silenced

The mother of Heather Heyer, the young woman killed by a car driven by a man with white nationalist ties, vowed that her daugther’s legacy would be “amplified,” and her fight against injustice would go on.

Susan Bro, whose 32-year old daughter Heather Heyer died Saturday during the tragic clashes between white separatists and counterprotesters in Charlotteville, Virginia, told the hundreds of mourners attending the memorial held at a downtown theater Wednesday that her daughter’s fight to end discrimination was just beginning, the New York Times reported.

Underneath a smiling photo of her daughter, she rallied those in attendance to remember and to carry on her daughter’s fight. “They tried to kill my child to shut her up,” Ms. Bro told the crowd, many of whom were dressed in purple because that was Heather’s favorite color. “Well, guess what — you just magnified her.”

Heyer was killed when a man drove a Dodge Challenger into the crowd of counter-protesters at the rally that was filled with neo-nazis, white separatists, members of the KKK and other alt-white nationalist groups. James Alex Fields, Jr., 20, who has a known history of being a fan of Nazi ideology, has been charged with her death and with wounding 20 others.

Bro called on the crowd, who she said were probably caring and compassionate people, to continue with the work her daughter had begun. Heyer’s last poignant facebook entry was: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” That post by her has now been shared at least 26,000 times.

“It’s not all about forgiveness,” Bro told the crowd, who gave her a standing ovation, The Times said. “The truth is, we are going to have our differences, we are going to be angry with each other. But let’s channel that anger not into hate.”

Friends and co-workers of Heyer, who worked as a paralegal and waitress, shared memories of the woman they described as intense and passionately committed to fighting injustice. Alfred A. Wilson, her former manager at the law firm, said Heather had once broken up with a boyfriend who had questioned her for working for a black man. And he read letters from clients who praised her compassion in helping them navigate through financial difficulties.

President Trump, whose has drawn extreme criticism for his response to the violence by saying both sides had been responsible for the violence, did not attend the ceremony. But Gov. Terry McAuliffe told reporters that Heather Heyer’s life and fierce desire to help others is an example that must be followed. She was, he said, “an inspiration to all of us — to do good, to put a hand out, to help one another.”