A car rammed into a crowd of protesters and a state police helicopter crashed into the woods Saturday as tension boiled over at a white supremacist rally. The violent day left three dead, dozens injured and this usually quiet college town a bloodied symbol of the nation91裸聊视频檚 roiling racial and political divisions.
The chaos erupted around what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade 91裸聊视频� including neo-Nazis, skinheads, members of the Ku Klux Klan 91裸聊视频� who descended on the city to 91裸聊视频渢ake America back91裸聊视频� by rallying against plans to remove a Confederate statue. Hundreds came to protest against the racism. 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. One crashed, killing two Virginia State troopers.
Peaceful protesters were marching downtown, carrying signs that read 91裸聊视频渂lack lives matter91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频渓ove.91裸聊视频� A silver Dodge Challenger suddenly came barrelling through 91裸聊视频渁 sea of people91裸聊视频� and smashed into another car, said Matt Korbon, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student.
The impact hurled people into the air and blew off their shoes. A 32-year-old woman was killed as she crossed the street.
91裸聊视频淚t was a wave of people flying at me,91裸聊视频� said Sam Becker, 24, sitting in the emergency room to be treated for leg and hand injuries.
Those left standing scattered, screaming and running for safety. Video caught the car reversing, hitting more people, its windshield splintered from the collision and bumper dragging on the pavement. Medics carried the injured, bloodied and crying, away as a police tank rolled down the street.
The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old who recently moved to Ohio from where he grew up in Kentucky, was charged with second-degree murder and other counts. Field91裸聊视频檚 mother, Samantha Bloom, told The Associated Press on Saturday night that she knew her son was attending a rally in Virginia but didn91裸聊视频檛 know it was a white supremacist rally.
91裸聊视频淚 thought it had something to do with Trump. Trump91裸聊视频檚 not a white supremacist,91裸聊视频� said Bloom, who became visibly upset as she learned of the injuries and deaths at the rally
91裸聊视频淗e had an African-American friend so 91裸聊视频�,91裸聊视频� she said before her voice trailed off. She added that she91裸聊视频檇 be surprised if her son91裸聊视频檚 views were that far right.
His arrest capped off hours of unrest. Hundreds of people threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays. Some came prepared for a fight, with body armour and helmets. Videos that ricocheted around the world on social media showed people beating each other with sticks and shields.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer, both Democrats, lumped the blame squarely on the rancour that has seeped into American politics and the white supremacists who came from out of town into their city, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, home to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson91裸聊视频檚 plantation.
91裸聊视频淭here is a very sad and regrettable coarseness in our politics that we91裸聊视频檝e all seen too much of today,91裸聊视频� Signer said at a press conference. 91裸聊视频淥ur opponents have become our enemies, debate has become intimidation.91裸聊视频�
Some of the white nationalists at Saturday91裸聊视频檚 rally cited President Donald Trump91裸聊视频檚 victory after a campaign of racially-charged rhetoric as validation for their beliefs.
Trump criticized the violence in a tweet Saturday, followed by a press conference and a call for 91裸聊视频渁 swift restoration of law and order.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淲e condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,91裸聊视频� he said.
The 91裸聊视频渙n many sides91裸聊视频� 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. The Rev. Jesse Jackson noted that Trump for years questioned President Barack Obama91裸聊视频檚 citizenship and his legitimacy as the first black president, and has fanned the flames of white resentment.
91裸聊视频淲e are in a very dangerous place right now,91裸聊视频� Jackson said. McAuliffe said at Saturday91裸聊视频檚 press conference that he spoke to Trump on the phone, and insisted that the president must work to combat hate.
Trump said he agreed with McAuliffe 91裸聊视频渢hat the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now.91裸聊视频�
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced late Saturday that federal authorities will pursue a civil rights investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice,91裸聊视频� Sessions wrote. 91裸聊视频淲hen such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated.91裸聊视频�
Oren Segal, who directs the Anti-Defamation League91裸聊视频檚 Center on Extremism, said multiple white power groups gathered in Charlottesville, including members of neo-Nazi organizations, racist skinheads and KKK factions. The white nationalist organizations Vanguard America and Identity Evropa; the Southern nationalist League of the South; the National Socialist Movement; the Traditionalist Workers Party; and the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights also were on hand, he said.
91裸聊视频淲e anticipated this event being the largest white supremacist gathering in over a decade,91裸聊视频� Segal said. 91裸聊视频淯nfortunately, it appears to have become the most violent as well.91裸聊视频�
On the other side, anti-fascist demonstrators also gathered, but they generally aren91裸聊视频檛 organized like white nationalist factions, said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In addition to Fields, at least three more men were arrested in connection to the protests
The Virginia State Police announced late Saturday that Troy Dunigan, a 21-year-old from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, a 21-year-old from Louisa, Virginia, was charged with assault and battery; and James M. O91裸聊视频橞rien, 44, of Gainesville, Florida, was charged with carrying a concealed handgun.
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.
Robby E. Noll, who lives in the county just outside Charlottesville, heard the helicopter sputtering.
91裸聊视频淚 turned my head to the sky. You could tell he was struggling to try to get control of it,91裸聊视频� he said.
He said pieces of the helicopter started to break off as it fell from the sky.
Both troopers onboard, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Berke M.M. Bates, one day shy of his 41st birthday, were killed. Police said the helicopter had been deployed to the violent protests in the city, which has been caught in the middle of the nation91裸聊视频檚 culture wars since it decided earlier this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, enshrined in bronze on horseback in the city91裸聊视频檚 Emancipation Park.
In May, a torch-wielding group that included prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer gathered around the statue for a nighttime protest, and in July, about 50 members of a North Carolina-based KKK group travelled there for a rally. Spencer returned for Saturday91裸聊视频檚 protest, and denied all responsibility for the violence. He blamed the police.
Signer said the white supremacist groups who came into his city to spread hate 91裸聊视频渁re on the losing side of history.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭omorrow will come and we will emerge,91裸聊视频� he said, 91裸聊视频淚 can promise you, stronger than ever.91裸聊视频�
Four-hundred miles away, the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, hinted that the white supremacists might get the opposite of what they91裸聊视频檇 hoped for.
Mayor Jim Gray announced on Twitter that he would work to remove the confederate monument at his county91裸聊视频檚 courthouse.
91裸聊视频淭oday91裸聊视频檚 events in Virginia remind us that we must bring our country together by condemning violence, white supremacists and Nazi hate groups,91裸聊视频� he wrote. 91裸聊视频淲e cannot let them define our future.91裸聊视频�
___
Associated Press writers Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, Heidi Brown in Charlottesville, Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky, and John Seewer in Maumee, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Sarah Rankin, The Associated Press
