National Geographic & Katie Couric Release Footage & Personal Essay Reflecting on Couric's Experience at Violent Rally in Charlottesville

As part of National Geographic's continued coverage around the events in Charlottesville, Katie Couric releases a personal essay and powerful, raw footage from Saturday's violent "Unite the Right" rally. The footage is part of an upcoming episode for the documentary series that Couric is working on for National Geographic.

Couric spent 72 HOURS with counter-protestors leading up to Saturday's rally and shares her experience in a thought-provoking and emotional essay published on National Geographic's website HERE.

"The events of the past week are especially personal to me because of my strong connection to Charlottesville I graduated from the University of Virginia, and my late sister Emily was the state senator representing the area for many years," said Couric. "When we went there to shoot our series about the social, demographic and cultural changes in America, we never expected that this beautiful place would become the center of such ugliness. Perhaps Charlottesville will serve as a wakeup call, that hate groups need to be taken seriously and that fair minded people of all backgrounds and beliefs need to speak-up. Hopefully our series will help contribute to that process."

Direct link to embeddable video HERE. (To embed video, please click on the plus sign under the video description to the right of the video)
Warning: This video contains profanity and disturbing scenes from Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. It also includes footage of James Fields, Jr., who has been charged with second-degree murder in an attack that day.

Couric's footage and essay coincides with National Geographic's newly released article "What Science Tells Us About Good and Evil," by award-winning writer and New York Times bestselling author, Yudhijt Bhattacharjee. The article explores the roots of evil, and what Science tells us about good and evil, and was released early given last weekend's events. It will appear in a future issue of National Geographic magazine. Bhattacharjee is available for interviews.

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