At least one dead as white nationalists ignite Virginia clashes
At least one person was killed on Saturday and 35 injured as protests turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia, as white supremacists clashed with counter-demonstrators and a car ploughed into a crowd of anti-racist and anti-fascist demonstrators.
A 32-year-old female was among those killed in the car ramming, said Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas, and injuries ranged from life-threatening to minor.
She was later named on social media as Heather Heyer and a fund raising page for her family has raised nearly $20,000, at the time of publication.
A 20-year-old man was held by police on charges relating to the car incident, including second-degree murder, according to police. The FBI opened a civil rights probe.
The Charlottesville Police Department said in a statement on Saturday night that James Alex Fields Jr of Ohio also faces three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene
The Charlottesville City Council voted unanimously on Saturday to allow the police chief to declare a curfew. No action on the move has been taken yet, Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said on his Facebook page.
Earlier on Saturday Signer confirmed on Twitter that at least one person had died in the car ramming incident.
I am heartbroken that a life has been lost here. I urge all people of good will--go home.
The hospital in Charlottesville reported that at least 19 people were injured.
Pepper spray, batons and makeshift weapons were used as far-right demonstrators clashed with counterprotesters throughout Saturday.
Organised by Jason Kessler, a former journalist and a member of the Proud Boys, an ultra-nationalist group, the "Unite the Right" rally was planned to voice opposition to the removal of a Confederate statue and has been described as one of the largest white supremacist events in recent US history.
Writing on Twitter on Saturday morning, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced a state of emergency to "aid response to violence at the alt-right rally in Charlottesville".
It is the third event of its type to be held in Charlottesville, a university town of 46,000 people, throughout the last four months.
Earlier this year, the city voted to remove a statue of Robert E Lee, the foremost Confederate military leader during the US Civil War, prompting similar far-right protests in May and July.
Among those in attendance are well-known figures such as Mike Peinovich, a white supremacist podcaster who also goes by Mike Enoch, and Richard Spencer, a leading figure in the alt-right, a loosely knit group that includes white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
The groups who sent members included the National Socialist Movement, the Traditionalist Worker Party, the neo-Confederate League of the South and Identity Evropa, among other white supremacist and far-right movements.
Emily Gorcenski, a Charlottesville-based activist, said that far-rightist activists made "threats, many promises of violence and incitement to violence" ahead of Unite the Right.
"What we're seeing is that they have no qualms about allying themselves with violent and hateful groups like the National Socialist Movement, the KKK and other [similar] organisations," she told Al Jazeera.
Led by local church groups, community organisers and Black Lives Matter, several counter-demonstrations have started in different locations across the city.
Although city officials attempted to move Unite the Right from Emancipation Park, the site of the Robert E Lee statue, to another nearby park, a federal judge reinstated the group's permit for the original venue on Friday.
The Virginia state police announced on Twitter that arrests had been made, but it did not specify how many people had been detained.
A police helicopter crashed and killed the pilot and a passenger later in the afternoon outside Charlottesville while en route to the rally, though officials did not elaborate the details.
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