White nationalist rally at Charlottesville turns violent
A car rammed into a crowd of protesters and a state police helicopter crashed into the woods as tension boiled over at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville
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There were street brawls and violent clashes; the governor declared a state of emergency, police in riot gear ordered people out and helicopters circled overhead. AP
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A car rammed into a crowd of protesters and a state police helicopter crashed into the woods on Saturday as tension rose at a white supremacist rally. The violent rally left three dead, dozens injured and the usually quiet college town turned into a bloodied symbol of the nation’s racial and political divisions. AP
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The chaos erupted around what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade — including neo-Nazis, skinheads, members of the Ku Klux Klan — who descended on the city to “take America back” by rallying against plans to remove a Confederate statue. Hundreds came to protest against the racism. AP
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Peaceful protesters were marching downtown, carrying signs that read “black lives matter” and “love.” A silver Dodge Challenger suddenly came barreling through “a sea of people” and smashed into another car, said Matt Korbon, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student. People were hurled into the air under impact and a 32-year-old woman was killed as she crossed the street. AP
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A video captured the car reversing, hitting more people, its windshield splintered from the collision and bumper dragging on the pavement. Medics carried the injured away as a police tank rolled down the street. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr, was charged with second-degree murder and other counts. In addition to Fields, at least three more men were arrested in connection with the protests. AP
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Just as the city seemed like to be quieting down, black smoke billowed out from the tree tops just outside of town as a Virginia State Police helicopter crashed into the woods. Both troopers on board, Lieutenant H Jay Cullen, 48, and Berke MM Bates, one day shy of his 41st birthday, were killed. Police said the helicopter had been deployed to address the violent protests in the city. AP
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Some of the white nationalists at Saturday’s rally cited US president Donald Trump’s victory after a campaign of racially-charged rhetoric as validation for their beliefs. Trump criticised the violence in a tweet Saturday, followed by a press conference and a call for “a swift restoration of law and order.” “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” he said. AP
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The “on many sides” ending of his statement drew the ire of his critics, who said he failed to specifically denounce white supremacy and equated those who came to protest racism with the white supremacists. Rescue personnel help an injured woman after a car ran into a large group of protesters during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. AP
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