CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — At least three people were killed and 35 injured after a violence-filled Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — At least three people were killed and 35 injured after a violence-filled Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists gathered for one of their largest rallies in at least a decade.
Bloody street brawls broke out between dozens of anti-racism activists and white nationalist attendees, many of whom carried shields, weapons and Nazi and Confederate flags. One woman, Heather D. Heyer, was killed when a man plowed a sports car into a crowd of protesters.
James A. Fields, 20, was detained and charged with second-degree murder. Two state troopers also died when a Virginia State Police helicopter crashed near the city.
Top political officials around the nation, both Republicans and Democrats, were nearly unanimous in denouncing racism and the violence that stemmed from the rally.
But in a television statement that drew criticism, President Donald Trump, while denouncing “hatred” and “bigotry, ” blamed the violence “on many sides, on many sides” — avoiding direct criticism of the nation’s burgeoning white nationalist movement, whose leaders have openly and repeatedly embraced Trump’s presidency.
“I have a message to all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today, ” McAuliffe said in a Saturday evening news conference. “Go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth. Shame on you.”
McAuliffe added, “You came here today to hurt people, and you did hurt people.”
Saturday’s violence was the culmination of political forces that have been building on the left and the right for years, as anti-racism activists and white-power advocates have battled each other — on the internet and increasingly in the streets — over the meaning of the nation’s traumatic racial history and its course for the future.
The original reason for Saturday’s “Unite the Right” rally was a battle over Charlotteville’s ordered removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, one of many Confederate symbols embraced by white nationalists, who believe in a separate nation for white people.
White nationalists and neo-Nazis made plans to travel from around the nation to attend and see movement luminaries such as Richard Spencer, who were proud supporters of the president’s candidacy in 2016.
The night before the main demonstration, scores of white nationalists drew condemnation as they marched through the empty University of Virginia campus bearing tiki torches and chanting, “Blood and soil!”— an old Nazi slogan — “You will not replace us!” and “White lives matter!”
They outnumbered, surrounded and scuffled with counterdemonstrators who had come to protest them.
Saturday was a different story. Before the “Unite the Right” rally could even begin, neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other far-right figures began brawling with large numbers of counterprotesters in the streets.
White nationalists in helmets, who were holding plastic shields, and anti-racism protesters could be seen skirmishing with each other on a city street, with someone spraying what appeared to be a crowd-control substance at the counter-protesters. Virginia state police said pepper spray was being released by crowd members.
The violence led officials to declare a state of emergency and shut down the event. Angered, far-right leaders fled the area. Some anti-racism activists burned Confederate flags they captured from their adversaries.
“Up until now, I’ ve never had a feeling that my own government is cracking down on me, ” a shirtless and damp-looking Spencer said in a livestream video after he escaped the scene, saying anti-fascists had attacked him with pepper spray and that he was kicked by police officers holding shields.
In a tweet to his allies, Spencer added: “My recommendation: Disperse. Get out of Charlottesville city limits.”
Protesters were jubilant, waving flags calling for solidarity and chanting “Black lives matter!” ”
Soon after, the driver of a gray sports car with Ohio plates drove toward a crowd of protesters and then accelerated suddenly, plowing into a chain of cars that struck least a dozen people.
Victims cried out in pain while onlookers howled in shock and ran from the scene, yelling for medical help.
Within seconds, the sports car, its front bumper dragging on the ground, reversed course and sped backwards up the street, disappearing around a corner at the next block as a bystander yelled, “Get off the street! Get off the street!”
Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal who was in the crosswalk, was killed. The Democratic Socialists of America said two of their members were among the wounded.
When police showed up after several minutes, they were met with angry cries from some in the crowd who felt the response was too slow.
“Where were you?” one of the protesters demanded. “Where the [expletive] were you?”
Shortly later, two state troopers died when a State Police helicopter crashed in the woods outside Charlottesville. The wreckage was fully engulfed in flames, according to images from local media.
The victims were identified as the pilot, Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Va., and Berke M. Bates, 40, of Quinton, Va. Officials do not suspect foul play.
As more reports about the day’s casualties came in, Trump tweeted: “Condolences to the family of the young woman killed today, and best regards to all of those injured, in Charlottesville, Virginia. So sad!”
But Trump’s remarks — especially his blame for the violence on “many sides” — drew particular criticism.
“The violence, chaos, and apparent loss of life in Charlottesville is not the fault of ‘many sides,’ “ tweeted Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. “It is racists and white supremacists.”
