Tense meet in Va. town after chaos

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Anger boiled over at the first City Council meeting since a white nationalist rally in the city descended into violent chaos, with some residents screaming and cursing at councilors Monday night and calling for their resignations.

Scores of people packed the council’s chambers, and The Daily Progress reported Mayor Mike Signer was interrupted by shouting several times in the first few minutes of the meeting. As tensions escalated, the meeting was halted. Live video showed protesters standing on a dais with a sign that said, “Blood on your hands.”

After talking with members of the crowd, Councilor Wes Bellamy said the council would drop its agenda and focus on people’s concerns, the newspaper reported.

Speakers, some yelling and hurling profanities, then took turns addressing the council, some expressing frustration that leaders had granted a permit for the Aug. 12 rally that left a city resident and two state troopers dead. Others criticized the police response to the event, which drew hundreds of white nationalists and other counterprotesters.

At one point, the crowd chanted, “Signer must go.”