The following statement can be attributed to Héctor Figueroa, president of SEIU 32BJ:

“A life has already been lost in a senseless act of hatred in Charlottesville. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those attacked today. As a union we reject these kinds of hateful actions and encourage our members, working families and the reasonable majority to peacefully stand up against the torch-bearing, Nazi-saluting white supremacists who are sowing chaos in Virginia. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: ‘The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people.’ We must denounce intolerance and hate, and demand that the Trump administration reject these kind of hateful acts that go against the very principles of our country.”