Twitter Mark Heyer.
Mark Heyer, the father of murdered paralegal Heather Heyer, gave an emotional and moving speech at his daughter’s memorial service on August 16.
Heather’s father teared up as he described how Heather “wanted equality.” Heather Heyer, 32, was slain when a car rammed into a crowd of people counter protesting a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. James Alex Fields, an alleged Hitler admirer, is accused of the murder.
Mark Heyer’s words are moving many people.
Watch the video here:
“As I listened to her friends,” Mark Heyer said while tearing up, “and their stories of my daughter and the way she was. She loved people. She wanted equality. And in this issue on the day of her passing, she wanted to put down hate. And, for my part, we just need to stop all of this stuff and just forgive each other. I think that’s what the Lord would want us to do. To just stop and love one another. I came here today and I was overwhelmed, I was overwhelmed at the rainbow of colors in this room. That’s how Heather was. It didn’t matter who you were or where you were from, if she loved you that was it. You were stuck. So for that, I am truly proud of my daughter. That’s as far as I’ve gotten.”
FacebookHeather Heyer.
Heather’s mother also gave a moving statement at the memorial:
Heather Heyer’s mom says ‘make a difference’: “I’d rather have my child but by golly if I gotta give her up we’re gonna make it count.”
Mark Heyer previously gave an emotional interview in which he said he is trying to forgive his daughter’s killer. You can watch that interview here:
WATCH: Father talks about daughter killed at Charlottesville protest
He said, “My daughter was a strong woman who had passionate opinions about the equality of everyone, and she tried to stand up for that. With her it wasn’t lip service, it was real. It was something she wanted to share with everyone. My thoughts about all of this stuff is that people need to stop hating and they need to forgive each other. I include myself in that in forgiving the guy that did this.”
Mark Heyer said of his daughter, “I’m proud of her. Proud of her for standing up. She had more courage than I did.”