Virginia's governor declared a state of emergency amid violence in
Charlottesville. (photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
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Violence Amid White Supremacist Rally Prompts State of Emergency in
Charlottesville
By Jason Wilson and Edward Helmore, Guardian UK
12 August 17
Hundreds gather ahead of planned 'Unite the Right' rally at Emancipation
Park in Charlottesville, as Trump condemns violence via Twitter
Violent clashes erupted between far-right nationalists and
counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, prompting the governor to
declare a state of emergency.
The unrest came ahead of scheduled a "Unite the Right" rally at the city's
Emancipation Park as fighting and scuffles broke out between the two groups.
Several people have been hurt and there have been a number of arrests.
The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, declared a state of emergency,
while the US president, Donald Trump, tweeted a condemnation of violence
related to the scenes in Charlottesville.
The police declared an unlawful assembly alert and a spokesman for the force
said the Virginia National Guard "will closely monitor the situation and
will be able to rapidly respond and provide additional assistance if
needed."
The clashes came despite police efforts to keep the rival protesters apart
following a confrontation late Friday in the University of Virginia's campus
in which counter-protesters claimed they were hit by torches and pepper
spray.
On Saturday at the park, projectiles were thrown between the groups and some
of those present could be seen pushing and throwing punches, or using pepper
spray.
Police in riot gear were assembled nearby and initially stayed back from
where the trouble was occurring before making the order for protesters to
disperse.
Organizers of the far right rally had chosen the park because of its 20ft
statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee, which has been at the centre
of other recent confrontations in Charlottesville.
By 11.15am ET, missiles such as empty bottles were being exchanged at the
south-east end of the park. Far-right supporters formed a "Roman tortoise"
shield wall at the gate. Counter-protesters cleared when a gas weapon was
released.
Shortly later, smoke grenades were launched from the park into the crowd of
counter-protesters. On both occasions, those in the street beat a hasty and
uncoordinated retreat.
At around 11:40am ET, after almost an hour of missile exchanges, gas attacks
and intermittent face to face melees, police declared the Unite the Right
assembly illegal and cleared the park with riot troops. Largely the far
right groups were compliant, but they were forced to run the gauntlet of
counter-protesters as they walked west along Market Street.
After a brief stalemate, a hard core of about 100 protesters relocated to
McIntire Park, about two miles away from downtown, and gathered to hear
speakers who had been scheduled for the Unite the Right event, which
anti-extremists had feared could be the largest such gathering in years.
One of the speakers, Richard Spencer, an "alt-right" activist, said he had
been maced on the way into the park and lashed out at police and city
authorities. "Never in my life have I felt like the government was cracking
down on me until today," said Spencer, who was flush faced. "We came in
peace and we were effectively thrown to the wolves."
He said that "militarized police", whom he compared to "stormtroopers", "did
not protect us, they funneled us towards the antifa ... I am a citizen of
the USA," he continued. "I have rights under our constitution."
He left the park soon after with a security detail.
The local rightwing activist and former Daily Caller writer Jason Kessler
had organized the Unite the Right event, which had planned to involve
speeches from leading "alt-right" ideologues including Spencer, the
podcaster Mike Peinovich, AKA "Mike Enoch", and Matthew Heimbach, leader of
the Traditionalist Workers party.
At the start of the day, amid heightened tensions, protesters and
counter-protesters had begun arriving in force at Emancipation park.
With a police helicopter buzzing overheard, successive groups of mostly
young men, carrying Confederate flags, rune banners, "Kekistan" flags and
other racist symbols entered via the south-east and south-west ends of the
park.
They then passed through gaps left in the barricades surrounding the protest
and the Robert E Lee statue which it claims to be defending.
The passage of the far-right groups was watched over by Virginia state
police, Charlottesville police officers, and armed "Three Percent" militia
members, who were dressed in fatigues and open-carrying rifles. Facing them
on Market Street were counter-protesters, many marching under the red and
black banners of antifascist organizations.
The south-east entrance was briefly blocked by a group of about 20 clergy
members, including Cornel West, who linked arms across the top of the stairs
to the park.
The Rev Seth Wispelwey, of Sojourners United Church of Christ in
Charlottesville, said of the group: "We're here to counteract white
supremacy, and to let people know that it is a system of evil and a system
of sin."
Just before 11am, a formation of around 200 people comprising members of the
neo-Confederate League of the South, the Traditionalist Workers party and
National Socialist Movement were briefly halted by protesters before moving
towards the south-east gate. One of their number was seen to mace a young
female protester who approached the group. By the time they made it in,
there were well over 500 far right protesters in the park, with around 1,000
counter-protesters in the street.
Statue controversy
In February, the city council narrowly voted to remove and sell the Robert E
Lee statue, and to rename the park in which it stands from Lee Park to
Emancipation Park. This was the culmination of a campaign to remove the
statue started by a local high school student, Zyahna Bryant.
It was part of a wave of such removals of Confederate monuments across the
south, which began after Dylann Roof massacred nine African American
churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.
In response, last May, Richard Spencer led a torchlit white nationalist
parade around the park. Then, on 8 July, about 50 members of the Loyal White
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in the park, and were greeted by
around 1,000 counter-protesters. The day ended in turmoil after police used
tear gas on some counter-protesters following the Klan's departure, and made
23 arrests.
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