Police Accused of Inaction in Charlottesville Shooting

The shitstorm that was the 2017 Unite the Right rally continues to swirl as the American Civil Liberties Union released a video footage of a disturbing "firefight" between a white supremacist protester and a counter-protester from that day. The footage of the incident, while predictably chaotic and confrontational like other videos we've seen before, has drawn a new round of criticism at the local law enforcement for failing to intervene properly in the interest of public safety.

The video in question, which was shot during one of many physical altercations that took place between the two camps on August 12th, shows a man approaching a crowd of counter-protestors and pulling the trigger at a man with a makeshift flamethrower, only to realize there was no bullet in the chamber. He then cocks the gun and fires at the ground. In the wake of the latest viral video, Charlottesville Police Department arrested Richard Preston, a 52-year-old resident of Towson, Maryland, and charged him with discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, according to a local news report.

WATCH: Man fired at another person in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. We handed 📹 to LE agencies. The man has been arrested & charged w a crime. pic.twitter.com/0vrXq4zNC0

— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) August 26, 2017

Despite the recent arrest, the New York Times reports that Charlottesville residents wonder why police did little to de-escalate the situation or arrest the shooter on site. Some residents and protestors believe that police delbertly did not intervene in the situation.

"We all heard it and ran -- I know damn well they heard it," said Rosia Parker, a community activist in Charlottesville, to the Times. "They never moved."

As shown in the video, the shooter screams at the counter-protestor and fires in the direction of counter-protestor Corey Long, who aimed a makeshift flamethrower at the white nationalists, using a spray can. A photograph of Long spraying fire has since gone viral.

"I went out to voice my opinion. To have my freedom of speech. Just like the racist Nazis who took over my town," said Long in an interview with The Root.

"At first it was peaceful protest Until someone pointed a gun at my head. Then the same person pointed it at my foot and shot the ground […] The cops were protecting the Nazis, instead of the people who live in the city,” Long said. “The cops basically just stood in their line and looked at the chaos. The cops were not protecting the people of Charlottesville. They were protecting the outsiders.”

Police deny claims that there was any preferential treatment payed to white nationalists. A spokeswoman for the state police insists that troopers did not hear the shot, while officials say that there was no "stand down" directive issued. This has done little to quell the criticism that police were more deliberately ignoring violence by white nationalists on counter-protestors. Despite 125 local officers on the scene, only eight arrests were made.

"We saw plenty of video of officers stepping in to de-escalate situations," said city manager Maurice Jones.

In contrary to this, the Times reports that Virginia’s secretary of public safety and homeland security, Brian Moran, said that police disregarded several security recommendations, such as a ban on all weapons, designating parking spots, cutting traffic and bussing protesters.

Many other counter-protesters and attendees of the rally reported that police were witness to many violent attacks from white nationalists but did not act.

The criticism comes as police forces around the nation look to Charlottesville as a case study in preparing for a number of other rallies that have been scheduled to take place in the coming months. However, because of counter-protests, many white supremacist rallies, like the one in San Francisco this past weekend, have been cancelled.