Was the Charlottesville incident a hoax?
Yes and no.
Like all things in the media it get conflated and sensationalised. The nuances are cut into small soundbytes that back an ideological agenda.
The truth, does anyone really care to hear it? Probably not. It is not as sensationalised and it far less a compelling argument for a political ideology.
The truth is that this was a perfect storm for something awful to happen, So what DID happen? Individuals mostly on the Progressive Left politically and collectivist groups started petitioning to all that could hear it that long standing statues of various notable individuals had to be removed for beliefs of who and what the statues stood for. They were adamant and vocal in their ideas. They were strongly backed by violent Leftist groups like Antifa.
This does NOT mean that everyone on the Left was in or associated with Antifa. This HAS to be very clear.
Likewise there were MANY mainly on the right who were strongly against those demands and wanted the statues to remain. Opportunistically, Some Far Right Extremists used this divide as a rallying cry and legally organised a protest.
In my humble opinion, they were spoiling for a fight. Using the law to get a permit and to use their First Amendment rights to the fullest to spout nasty White Supremacist BS and demonstrate at night with tiki torches shouting obscene slogans.
Of course during the two days this set up effectively to polarised and angry sides. One side already mentioned had people against the statues peppered with mad and angry Leftist groups like Antifa, and on the other side was White Supremacist groups sprinkled in with people not associated with the White supremacists or their ideals but against the ideals of removing statues and such.
This is precisely where the argument of there were good people both sides come from. There were. There were bad people on both sides too but to pretend that there were only White Supremacists and Antifa is ridiculous and dishonest.
The chances of something very violent happening was very high.
James Fields was one of the ugly racist White Supremacists that attended. James was mentally unstable and was diagnosed and treated for psychiatric disorders.
Immediately preceding James driving into protesters and killing Heather Heyer, Leftist protesters chased James and admitted it. What did James do? Disappear into the crowd? Run away? Fight? No he got into his car and drove into people.
Now I do not know this crazy racist’s state of mind. Was he trying to escape or was he trying for revenge? Was he even consciously aware of what he was doing?
It is not up to me to know. It was the perfect storm for something horrible to happen. Heather Heyer was killed by James and many injured. I see it as needless but textbook as to what is likely when society is so divided. It is heartbreaking.
The way it has been framed too often by too many for virtue signaling or moral preening or to push an ideology is sickening. I believe most of the outlets that pushed a Left wing narrative are actually worse than being ignorant. I think they know better but for purposes of sensationaling the tragedy and boost ratings frame it dishonestly. That is the society, culture and political landscape at the moment and it HAS to matter more than ratings on pathetic news media.