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 nation香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播� including neo-Nazis, skinheads, members of the Ku Klux Klan 香蕉视频直播� who descended on the city to 香蕉视频直播渢ake America back香蕉视频直播� 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 香蕉视频直播渂lack lives matter香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播渓ove.香蕉视频直播� A silver Dodge Challenger suddenly came barrelling through 香蕉视频直播渁 sea of people香蕉视频直播� 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.
香蕉视频直播淚t was a wave of people flying at me,香蕉视频直播� 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. Field香蕉视频直播檚 mother, Samantha Bloom, told The Associated Press on Saturday night that she knew her son was attending a rally in Virginia but didn香蕉视频直播檛 know it was a white supremacist rally.
香蕉视频直播淚 thought it had something to do with Trump. Trump香蕉视频直播檚 not a white supremacist,香蕉视频直播� said Bloom, who became visibly upset as she learned of the injuries and deaths at the rally
香蕉视频直播淗e had an African-American friend so 香蕉视频直播�,香蕉视频直播� she said before her voice trailed off. She added that she香蕉视频直播檇 be surprised if her son香蕉视频直播檚 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 Jefferson香蕉视频直播檚 plantation.
香蕉视频直播淭here is a very sad and regrettable coarseness in our politics that we香蕉视频直播檝e all seen too much of today,香蕉视频直播� Signer said at a press conference. 香蕉视频直播淥ur opponents have become our enemies, debate has become intimidation.香蕉视频直播�
Some of the white nationalists at Saturday香蕉视频直播檚 rally cited President Donald Trump香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播渁 swift restoration of law and order.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淲e condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,香蕉视频直播� he said.
The 香蕉视频直播渙n many sides香蕉视频直播� 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 Obama香蕉视频直播檚 citizenship and his legitimacy as the first black president, and has fanned the flames of white resentment.
香蕉视频直播淲e are in a very dangerous place right now,香蕉视频直播� Jackson said. McAuliffe said at Saturday香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播渢hat the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now.香蕉视频直播�
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,香蕉视频直播� Sessions wrote. 香蕉视频直播淲hen such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated.香蕉视频直播�
Oren Segal, who directs the Anti-Defamation League香蕉视频直播檚 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.
香蕉视频直播淲e anticipated this event being the largest white supremacist gathering in over a decade,香蕉视频直播� Segal said. 香蕉视频直播淯nfortunately, it appears to have become the most violent as well.香蕉视频直播�
On the other side, anti-fascist demonstrators also gathered, but they generally aren香蕉视频直播檛 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. O香蕉视频直播橞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.
香蕉视频直播淚 turned my head to the sky. You could tell he was struggling to try to get control of it,香蕉视频直播� 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 nation香蕉视频直播檚 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 city香蕉视频直播檚 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 Saturday香蕉视频直播檚 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 香蕉视频直播渁re on the losing side of history.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淭omorrow will come and we will emerge,香蕉视频直播� he said, 香蕉视频直播淚 can promise you, stronger than ever.香蕉视频直播�
Four-hundred miles away, the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, hinted that the white supremacists might get the opposite of what they香蕉视频直播檇 hoped for.
Mayor Jim Gray announced on Twitter that he would work to remove the confederate monument at his county香蕉视频直播檚 courthouse.
香蕉视频直播淭oday香蕉视频直播檚 events in Virginia remind us that we must bring our country together by condemning violence, white supremacists and Nazi hate groups,香蕉视频直播� he wrote. 香蕉视频直播淲e cannot let them define our future.香蕉视频直播�
___
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
