Trump condemns violence at Charlottesville alt-right rally, says country must ‘come together as one’

Justin Ide | Reuters

Rescue workers transport a victim who was injured when a car drove through a group of counter protesters at the “Unite the Right” rally Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017.

A gathering of hundreds of white nationalists in Virginia took a deadly turn on Saturday when a car apparently deliberately plowed into a group of counter-protesters and killed at least one person.

President Donald Trump condemned an “egregious display of hatred and bigotry” at the rally, saying there was “no place” for violent protests in America.

After the state’s governor declared a state of emergency to quell the growing conflict in Charlottesville, Trump said via Twitter that the country “must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!”

In the midst of the protest, a Dodge Charger mowed down dozens of peaceful counter-protesters assembled in the area before reversing along the same street. A man from Ohio was held by police on charges relating to the car incident, including second-degree murder, said Martin Kumer, Albemarle Charlottesville’s regional jail superintendent.

The suspect was James Alex Fields, Jr., a 20-year-old white man from Ohio, Kumer said. It was not clear why the suspect was in Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia’s flagship campus.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond office said that there will be a civil rights probe into the incident.

A spokesperson for the University of Virginia Hospital cited one death and at least 19 injured, with 5 considered in critical condition.

Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer said in a post on Twitter that he was “heartbroken” over the loss of life, and urged protesters to “go home” in order to defuse the situation.