CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The mother of the counter protester who was killed at a white supremacist rally over the weekend had a message for those gathered in honor of her daughter.
"They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her," Susan Bro said.
Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer’s mother: “They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what: you just magnified her.” pic.twitter.com/qplRC8g2lc
— CNN (@CNN) August 16, 2017
People packed into Charlottesville’s 1,000-seat theater for Heather Heyer's memorial Wednesday. The 32-year-old was killed Saturday when police say James Fields Jr. drove a Dodge Challenger into a group of counter protesters.
Fields, 20, of Monclova Township, Ohio, faces a count of second-degree murder and other charges. Charlottesville police said Fields, driving the Dodge, caused a chain-reaction crash that pushed vehicles into the crowd.
Bro said her daughter's death would make sense for those who knew how passionate she was.
“Here’s the message, although Heather was a caring and compassionate person, so are a lot of you … and I think the reason that what happened to Heather has struck a chord is because we know that what she did is achievable,” Bro said.
Lots of people in line for Heather Heyer Memorial in #Charolettesville @WCPO pic.twitter.com/nPHVRyZTK9
— Hillary Lake, WCPO (@hillarylake) August 16, 2017
Though she didn’t know Heyer, Bonnie Slater attended the memorial service.
“She’s really a hero to me right now,” Slater said.
Slater played music for people as they filed in Charlottesville’s Paramount Theatre.
"Blood is red no matter where you come from, your color, what language you speak. We're all the same inside, and it's just terrible that somebody had to lose their life,” Slater said.
CNN contributed to this report.
