One person was killed and 19 were hurt when a speeding car slammed into a throng of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, where a "Unite the Right" rally of white nationalist and other right-wing groups had been scheduled to take place, the city tweeted on its verified account.
A
32-year-old woman was killed while walking across the street,
Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said. Police were still in the
process of notifying her family.
Two
Virginia State Patrol troopers were killed in a helicopter crash while
"assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation in
Charlottesville," the agency said in a news release. The pilot, Lt. H.
Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned 41
on Sunday, died in the crash.
Virginia
Gov. Terry McAuliffe had a pointed message for the right-wing groups
that flocked to Charlottesville on Saturday: "Go home. ... You are not
wanted in this great commonwealth. Shame on you."
In
addition to the one death and 19 injuries in the car-ramming incident,
the city said there were at least 15 other injuries associated with the
scheduled rally.
Federal authorities said a civil rights investigation into the deadly crash was opened hours after it happened.
Attorney
General Jeff Sessions said U.S. Attorney Rick Mountcastle is leading
the investigation and has the full support of the Deparment of Justice.
"The
violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American
law and justice. When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred,
they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated," Sessions said in a
statement. "Justice will prevail."
"The
FBI will collect all available facts and evidence, and as this is an
ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time,"
said a statement from the Richmond, Virginia FBI field office.
"I
am heartbroken that a life has been lost here. I urge all people of
good will -- go home," Mayor Mike Signer wrote on Twitter.
Virginia's
governor had earlier declared an emergency, and police worked to
disperse hundreds of protesters in the college town after clashes broke
out ahead of the rally's scheduled noon ET start.
Fistfights
and screaming matches erupted Saturday, barely 12 hours after a scuffle
Friday night at the nearby University of Virginia between torch-bearing
demonstrators and counterprotesters.
Saturday's
rally was the latest event drawing white nationalists and right-wing
activists from across the country to this Democratic-voting town -- a
development precipitated by the city's decision to remove symbols of its
Confederate past.
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