DEADLY DAY OF HATE
1 killed, 19 hurt when car smashes into protest of white supremacy rally in Virginia; 2 more in chopper die responding to violence
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. A 32- year- old woman died and at least 19 were injured Saturday when a car crashed into a crowd of peaceful protesters leaving a “Unite the Right” rally that officials declared an “unlawful assembly.”
The planned rally had already been shut down following bottle- throwing clashes between altright demonstrators, counter- protesters, white nationalists, neo- Nazis and supporters of Black Lives Matter.
Al Thomas, Charlottesville police chief, said 35 people were injured in clashes between opposing groups and in the car crash. Their injuries ranged from life- threatening to minor, he said. Albermarle County Regional Jail officials identified the suspect as 20- year- old James Alex Fields, of Ohio.
Police officials said Fields would be charged with one count of second degree
“I am heartbroken that a life has been lost here.” Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer, on Twitter
murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run. In addition, the FBI announced Saturday night it would open a civil rights investigation into the circumstances of the death.
“Our hearts break for the casualties and injuries,” Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said at a press conference.
About three hours after the car crash, the Virginia State Police’s Bell 407 helicopter crashed about 7 miles from the scene. Police reports said the helicopter crashed in a wooded area and the two pilots died. No one on the ground was injured. The helicopter had been assisting in police supervision of the protests.
The driver of a silver Dodge Challenger plowed into one of the groups streaming away from the rally at Emancipation Park through the narrow downtown streets.
Videos of the incident show the vehicle barreling into pedestrians at high speed and slamming into the back of a second vehicle. With the car’s front badly damaged and its mangled bumper sticking out one side, the driver backs up a high speed for several blocks, then turns left and speeds off, chased by police.
Samantha Bloom, the mother of the 20year- old suspect, told the Toledo Blade her son texted her Friday to say he was attending the rally and that he dropped off his cat at her apartment.
“I told him to be careful,” Bloom, of Monclova Township, told the Blade. “[ And] if they’re going to rally make sure he’s doing it peacefully.”
President Trump, on vacation at his golf club in New Jersey, condemned “in the strongest possible terms” what he called an “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” in Charlottesville. He called for “a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives.”
Trump said he spoke with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and “we agreed that the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now.”
McAuliffe delivered a message to the white supremacists at an evening press conference: “Go home, you are not wanted in this great commonwealth, shame on you.”
Virginia State Police said the two helicopter pilots killed Saturday were Lt. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Va. and TrooperPilot Berke Bates, 40, of Quinton, Va. Cullen was a 23- year veteran of the force and is survived by his wife and two sons. Bates was a three- year veteran of the force and joined the aviation unit last month.
The governor declared a state of emergency shortly before 11 a. m. as the earlier protests and counter- protests turned unruly.
He said he was “disgusted by the hatred, bigotry and violence” and blamed “mostly out- of- state protesters.”
The violence played out against a backdrop of unofficial, armed militia groups ringing the park, where the rally was called to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Some 500 protesters among the white nationalist and alt- right groups left the park shortly after state police, using megaphones, declared the gathering an “unlawful assembly” at 11: 40 a. m., about 20 minutes before the rally was scheduled to begin.
The clashes, mainly between white nationalists and anti- fascist groups, broke out as crowds moved toward the park where the Lee statue is located. At one point, dozens of people used wooden poles from their flags and banners as weapons. Others threw trash and bottles into the opposing ranks as the crowds swelled.
As dusk fell Saturday, Charlottesville residents described a city buried in chaos.
“There were fist fights breaking out,” said Brad Slocum, a 2012 University of Virginia graduate who attended Saturday’s rally at Emancipation Park. His friends were attacked with flag poles, he said, and he left with some bruises after an attempt to de- escalate a skirmish between a protester and counter protester.
Slocum said the scene was frightening, but showing up was “the right thing to do.”
A federal court had rejected the city’s attempt to move the “Unite the Right” rally to another park.
U. S. District Judge Glen Conrad ruled the attempt to revoke Kessler’s rally permit and move the protest to another park “was based on the content of his speech.”
The judge noted the city did not try at the same time to move counter- protesters to another location. Gabe Cavallaro reports for The ( Staunton) News Leader. Stanglin reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Sarah Toy, Jayme Deerwester, Nick Penzenstadler.