Coming in August on FRONTLINE

This month marks one year since the infamous and deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

On Tuesday, August 7, FRONTLINE and ProPublica will premiere a major, joint investigation called Documenting Hate: Charlottesville that investigates the white supremacists and neo-Nazis involved in the rally — and shows how some of those behind the racist violence went unpunished and continued to operate around the country.

Our joint reporting for this project has already shed new and troubling light on the events of August 11 and 12, 2017. In May, we revealed that a neo-Nazi active duty Marine, Vasillios Pistolis, participated in the Charlottesville violence. Pistolis was court-martialed — and just today, Aug. 1, the Marine Corps confirmed that Pistolis has “officially been separated from the Marine Corps.”

In July, we reported that another participant in the Charlottesville violence, Michael Miselis, worked for a prominent defense contractor and had a U.S. government security clearance. After our story was published, the company, Northrop Grumman, said that it would take “immediate action to look into the very serious issues raised by these reports.” The day after our story ran, a company spokesman told FRONTLINE and ProPublica that Miselis was “no longer an employee.”

Now, in Documenting Hate: Charlottesville, correspondent A.C. Thompson goes even deeper — investigating why, nearly a year after the rally, many of the perpetrators of racist violence have not been held accountable; tracing the origins and actions of the white supremacist groups they belong to (and how they operate and recruit); and revealing how a series of violent clashes involving those very same individuals and groups preceded the deadly rally in Charlottesville.

Also this month: As tensions rise between the United States and Iran, with threats of war and sanctions, FRONTLINE is presenting an unusual and surprising portrait of life inside the Islamic Republic. On Monday, Aug. 13 and Tuesday, Aug. 14, we’ll premiere Our Man in Tehran – a revealing series filmed in Iran with New York Times correspondent Thomas Erdbrink, one of the last Western journalists living in the country.

In this two-night documentary special, Erdbrink shares a rare journey into a private Iran often at odds with its conservative clerics and leaders. The series offers surprising encounters inside the closed society of Iran, as Erdbrink gets Iranians to reveal the intricacies of their private worlds and the challenges of living under theocratic leaders.

Plus: On Tuesday, August 28, we’ll bring you an encore presentation of American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government, our May 2017 look at how the Bundy family’s fight against the federal government invigorated armed militias and “patriot” groups — helping them grow to levels not seen in decades.

Here’s a closer look at our August lineup.

August 7: Documenting Hate: Charlottesville

With ProPublica, a yearlong investigation into the white supremacists and neo-Nazis involved in the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. 

August 13 & 14: Our Man in Tehran

A two-night, four–hour journey into the private world of Iran, revealing the people and the country in a way never before seen on U.S. television.

August 28: American Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Government

An inside look at the battle between the Bundy ranching family in the West and the federal government.

Check your local PBS station for airtimes.