Man charged with murder following car ramming incident as violence pours out at white supremacist rally in Virginia
A t least three people have been killed and dozens injured after violence erupted at a far right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
One of those killed, a 32-year-old woman, died after a car ploughed into counter protesters as she was crossing the street.
The Telegraph spotted injured people lounging in the road moments after the silver saloon car sped into the crowd.
Col. Martin Kumer, the superintendent of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, confirmed that an Ohio man, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failing to stop at the scene of an accident that resulted in a death.
However the authorities declined to say publicly that Mr. Fields was the driver of the car the plowed into the crowd
Deepest condolences to the families & fellow officers of the VA State Police who died today. You’re all among the best this nation produces.
T he death toll is understood to include two Virginia State Police officers who were killed when their helicopter crashed near Charlottesville.
They were later named as Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned forty one on Sunday.
P olice said nineteen people were injured in the car ramming incident and fifteen in other violent incidents.
The Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation. In addition to Mr Fields, three other people have been arrested.
T he arrests followed a day in which the quiet university town erupted in violence with armed neo-Nazis and white supremacists fighting police and counter-protestors.
Riot police used rip gas and armoured vehicles during what was described by civil rights groups as America’s “largest hate gathering in decades”.
The city’s mayor Mike Signer said: “I am heartbroken that a life has been lost here. I urge all people of good will – go home.
“I’m not going to make any bones about it. I place the blame for a lot of what you’re witnessing in American today right at the doorstep of the White House and the people around the president.”
A state of emergency was proclaimed and hundreds of far-right protesters left the city’s Emancipation Park as police used megaphones to proclaim their gathering an “unlawful assembly”.
Right wing blogger Jason Kessler, who organised the event, and Richard Spencer, a prominent “alt-right” activist who was due to speak, were evacuated with security and encouraged followers to leave peacefully.
T he extremists had descended on the quiet southern city of 47,000 people for a “Unite the Right” rally but the situation quickly turned violent when they were confronted by activists from the anti-fascist movement known as Antifa.
P resident Donald Trump denounced the violence, telling on Twitter: “We ALL 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!”
Speaking to reporters at his Fresh Jersey golf course, Mr Trump condemned “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” which he called “very, very sad”.
H e said: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America.
“We want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville and we want to probe it, and we want to see what we’re doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen.”
He added: “We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other. We have to heal the wounds of our country.”
Mr Trump declined to response shouted questions about white nationalists who had supported him.
Far-right activists wore Nazi symbols and shouted “blood and soil” – a slogan of the Third Reich – as they marched into the city while others carried flags of the Confederacy or imitation viking shields. Other militia members carried attack rifles and wore military-style assets armour.
T he white supremacists exchanged blows with Left-wing demonstrators and in several cases people were hit with pepper squirt. Police in riot gear were incapable to tranquil the situation as the two sides fought in the streets.
E arly in the afternoon a car ploughed into anti-fascist counter-protesters marching downtown at the junction of 4th and Water Streets.
Arriving on the scene shortly afterwards, The Sunday Telegraph witnessed several people lounging in the street injured, including a woman with a bloody head wound, and others screaming or running away. At least five were later placed in ambulances on stretchers, and others were treated for minor injuries.
Unidentified militia has arrived at #EmancipationPark ahead of the #Charlottesville rally with guns in tow. pic.twitter.com/zCLCBU78PF
V ideo taken by a demonstrator showcased the silver sedan speeding into and hitting two other cars that were waiting for a the march to pass.
Those cars were shunted into the crowd, and the driver of the speeding vehicle then quickly reversed away and fled.
Witness Hunter Harman, 20, told The Telegraph: “I spotted the car. We were marching and I heard a bang. Then I spotted people flying tho’ the air, then a bunch of injured people on the ground. I attempted to help them.
.@Swerdlick on #Charlottesville: “At a minimum the President by now should have been able to come out with a tweet” https://t.co/jSrFFPHob6
“He was going so prompt, it was one hundred per cent deliberate. He banged into the back of two other cars and moved them forward. They accidentally hit people too. Then I didn’t see him switch roles out.”
A nother witness said: “It was a grey Ford Challenger, it came speeding down the road where there were lots of people. One person got pinched inbetween the Challenger and an armoured car and others got hit. It must have hit a few dozen people. There were people hurt. Then he reversed out at 40mph.”
T he Unite the Right rally was organised in protest at plans to eliminate a statue of Robert E Lee, a Confederate general during the Civil War.
Many southern states have begun removing such statues, telling that leaders who fought for slavery should not be revered in the 21st Century. The demonstrators accuse local governments of attempting to erase history by removing the statues and often chant “You will not substitute us” as they rally around the statues.
We ALL 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!
T he city of Charlottesville had attempted to get the protest moved to another park but the rally organisers sued and a judge ruled they must be permitted in Emancipation Park, where the Lee statue is.
Shortly after 11am, an hour before the formal rally was due to begin, local authorities proclaimed the state of emergency, telling there was an “imminent threat of civil disturbance, unrest, potential injury to persons, and destruction of property”.
T erry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia, said: “The acts and rhetoric in Charlottesville over past twenty four hours are unacceptable and must stop. A right to speech is not a right to violence.”
He added: “Go home, you are not dreamed in this good commonwealth,” he said. “You pretend to be patriots, you are anything but patriots.
“You came here to hurt people and they did hurt people. My message is clear, we are stronger than you.
“There is no place for you here, there is no place for you in America.”
I n a statement before her spouse condemned the violence Very first Lady Melania Trump said: “Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate without hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence.”
But David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, hailed the rally as a sign of Mr Trump’s success. “This represents a turning point for the people of this country.
“We are determined to take our country back. We’re going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.”
A s violence continued in Charlottesville there were ugly scenes in a car park as protesters confronted a white nationalist marcher.
In an extended stand-off the marcher shouted: “This is my country.” A dozen nationalists in military fatigues, some powerfully armed with AR -15s and carrying a confederate flag, stood nearby as protesters held signs telling “Nazis go home” and yelled at them to “put down the guns.”
The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.
A t Emancipation Park a counter-protester with a bloody face said he had been attacked by a far-right demonstrator.
C aleb, 20, who asked not to give his 2nd name, told the Telegraph: “I was attempting to deny them entry to the park and the gentleman determined to hit me in the face with his flagpole.”
S ome Republican politicians took to the airwaves to distance themselves from the white supremacists.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador also condemned the violence.
I know all to well the agony hate can cause. The American Spirit that ties us has no place for deeds like this. #PrayersForCharlottesville
H ouse Speaker Paul Ryan said: “The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.”
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate last year added: ” We will not step backward. If this is not who we are as Americans, let’s prove it.”
R eligious leaders of many faiths gathered at the edge of the extremist rally to sing spiritual songs and call for unity.
T he chaos on Saturday followed a smaller rally on Friday night, which spotted hundreds of mainly white dudes carrying searing torches marching through the grounds of the University of Virginia.
Man charged with murder following car ramming incident as violence spews at white supremacist rally in Virginia
Man charged with murder following car ramming incident as violence explodes at white supremacist rally in Virginia
A t least three people have been killed and dozens injured after violence erupted at a far right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
One of those killed, a 32-year-old woman, died after a car ploughed into counter protesters as she was crossing the street.
The Telegraph eyed injured people lounging in the road moments after the silver saloon car sped into the crowd.
Col. Martin Kumer, the superintendent of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, confirmed that an Ohio man, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failing to stop at the scene of an accident that resulted in a death.
However the authorities declined to say publicly that Mr. Fields was the driver of the car the plowed into the crowd
Deepest condolences to the families & fellow officers of the VA State Police who died today. You’re all among the best this nation produces.
T he death toll is understood to include two Virginia State Police officers who were killed when their helicopter crashed near Charlottesville.
They were later named as Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned forty one on Sunday.
P olice said nineteen people were injured in the car ramming incident and fifteen in other violent incidents.
The Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation. In addition to Mr Fields, three other people have been arrested.
T he arrests followed a day in which the quiet university town erupted in violence with armed neo-Nazis and white supremacists fighting police and counter-protestors.
Riot police used rip gas and armoured vehicles during what was described by civil rights groups as America’s “largest hate gathering in decades”.
The city’s mayor Mike Signer said: “I am heartbroken that a life has been lost here. I urge all people of good will – go home.
“I’m not going to make any bones about it. I place the blame for a lot of what you’re watching in American today right at the doorstep of the White House and the people around the president.”
A state of emergency was announced and hundreds of far-right protesters left the city’s Emancipation Park as police used megaphones to proclaim their gathering an “unlawful assembly”.
Right wing blogger Jason Kessler, who organised the event, and Richard Spencer, a prominent “alt-right” activist who was due to speak, were evacuated with security and encouraged followers to leave peacefully.
T he extremists had descended on the quiet southern city of 47,000 people for a “Unite the Right” rally but the situation quickly turned violent when they were confronted by activists from the anti-fascist movement known as Antifa.
P resident Donald Trump denounced the violence, telling on Twitter: “We ALL 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!”
Speaking to reporters at his Fresh Jersey golf course, Mr Trump condemned “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” which he called “very, very sad”.
H e said: “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America.
“We want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville and we want to investigate it, and we want to see what we’re doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen.”
He added: “We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other. We have to heal the wounds of our country.”
Mr Trump declined to response shouted questions about white nationalists who had supported him.
Far-right activists wore Nazi symbols and shouted “blood and soil” – a slogan of the Third Reich – as they marched into the city while others carried flags of the Confederacy or imitation viking shields. Other militia members carried brunt rifles and wore military-style bod armour.
T he white supremacists exchanged blows with Left-wing demonstrators and in several cases people were hit with pepper bust. Police in riot gear were incapable to quiet the situation as the two sides fought in the streets.
E arly in the afternoon a car ploughed into anti-fascist counter-protesters marching downtown at the junction of 4th and Water Streets.
Arriving on the scene shortly afterwards, The Sunday Telegraph witnessed several people lounging in the street injured, including a woman with a bloody head wound, and others screaming or running away. At least five were later placed in ambulances on stretchers, and others were treated for minor injuries.
Unidentified militia has arrived at #EmancipationPark ahead of the #Charlottesville rally with guns in tow. pic.twitter.com/zCLCBU78PF
V ideo taken by a demonstrator displayed the silver sedan speeding into and hitting two other cars that were waiting for a the march to pass.
Those cars were shunted into the crowd, and the driver of the speeding vehicle then quickly reversed away and fled.
Witness Hunter Harman, 20, told The Telegraph: “I witnessed the car. We were marching and I heard a bang. Then I spotted people flying tho’ the air, then a bunch of injured people on the ground. I attempted to help them.
.@Swerdlick on #Charlottesville: “At a minimum the President by now should have been able to come out with a tweet” https://t.co/jSrFFPHob6
“He was going so prompt, it was one hundred per cent deliberate. He banged into the back of two other cars and moved them forward. They accidentally hit people too. Then I didn’t see him switch sides out.”
A nother witness said: “It was a grey Ford Challenger, it came speeding down the road where there were lots of people. One person got pinched inbetween the Challenger and an armoured car and others got hit. It must have hit a few dozen people. There were people hurt. Then he reversed out at 40mph.”
T he Unite the Right rally was organised in protest at plans to liquidate a statue of Robert E Lee, a Confederate general during the Civil War.
Many southern states have begun removing such statues, telling that leaders who fought for slavery should not be revered in the 21st Century. The demonstrators accuse local governments of attempting to erase history by removing the statues and often chant “You will not substitute us” as they rally around the statues.
We ALL 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!
T he city of Charlottesville had attempted to get the protest moved to another park but the rally organisers sued and a judge ruled they must be permitted in Emancipation Park, where the Lee statue is.
Shortly after 11am, an hour before the formal rally was due to begin, local authorities announced the state of emergency, telling there was an “imminent threat of civil disturbance, unrest, potential injury to persons, and destruction of property”.
T erry McAuliffe, the governor of Virginia, said: “The acts and rhetoric in Charlottesville over past twenty four hours are unacceptable and must stop. A right to speech is not a right to violence.”
He added: “Go home, you are not desired in this superb commonwealth,” he said. “You pretend to be patriots, you are anything but patriots.
“You came here to hurt people and they did hurt people. My message is clear, we are stronger than you.
“There is no place for you here, there is no place for you in America.”
I n a statement before her spouse condemned the violence Very first Lady Melania Trump said: “Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate without hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence.”
But David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, hailed the rally as a sign of Mr Trump’s success. “This represents a turning point for the people of this country.
“We are determined to take our country back. We’re going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.”
A s violence continued in Charlottesville there were ugly scenes in a car park as protesters confronted a white nationalist marcher.
In an extended stand-off the marcher shouted: “This is my country.” A dozen nationalists in military fatigues, some intensely armed with AR -15s and carrying a confederate flag, stood nearby as protesters held signs telling “Nazis go home” and yelled at them to “put down the guns.”
The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.
A t Emancipation Park a counter-protester with a bloody face said he had been attacked by a far-right demonstrator.
C aleb, 20, who asked not to give his 2nd name, told the Telegraph: “I was attempting to deny them entry to the park and the gentleman determined to hit me in the face with his flagpole.”
S ome Republican politicians took to the airwaves to distance themselves from the white supremacists.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador also condemned the violence.
I know all to well the ache hate can cause. The American Spirit that ties us has no place for deeds like this. #PrayersForCharlottesville
H ouse Speaker Paul Ryan said: “The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.”
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate last year added: ” We will not step backward. If this is not who we are as Americans, let’s prove it.”
R eligious leaders of many faiths gathered at the edge of the extremist rally to sing spiritual songs and call for unity.
T he chaos on Saturday followed a smaller rally on Friday night, which witnessed hundreds of mainly white dudes carrying searing torches marching through the grounds of the University of Virginia.