One killed in violence over US far-right rally


One person has died and 19 others were injured when a car rammed a crowd of people opposing a far-right rally in the US state of Virginia, police say.

Earlier, street brawls erupted between white nationalists planning to attend the march and counter-protesters.

The mayor of Charlottesville, where the now-cancelled rally was taking place, said he was "heartbroken" at the death.

President Donald Trump has condemned the violence, and local officials have declared a state of emergency.

The car involved in the ramming incident was later located a few streets away and the driver is in custody, the city's police chief said.

In addition to those injured there, the Charlottesville Police Department said another 15 people were injured in other violence related to the far-right march.

Late in the afternoon, a Virginia State Police helicopter, crashed in woodland south-west of the city, killing two people; however, there has been no indication that this was related to the violence.

The "Unite the Right" march was called to protest against plans to remove a statue of a general who had fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the US Civil War.

Video posted on social media showed a car ploughing at speed into several slow-moving vehicles, which were surrounded by a densely packed crowd.

A witness said one girl got "tore up" after the car "backed up and hit again".

Officials said the driver had been taken into custody.

A number of people received first-aid after a vehicle drove into a crowd


Witnesses said the car backed up and hit the crowd more than once

Police earlier fired tear gas against demonstrators and said that arrests had been made after a declaration of unlawful assembly at Emancipation Park.

Why do people still fly the Confederate flag?

The far-right protesters, some waving Confederate flags, carrying shields and wearing helmets, are angry about the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E Lee from Charlottesville.


Anti-racism organisations such as Black Lives Matter also held marches.

President Donald Trump condemned "in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides".

"The hate and the division must stop right now," he told reporters, speaking in New Jersey, where he is on a working holiday. "We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation."

Democrats and Republicans alike have taken issue with his choice of words, noting that he failed to refer to the role of white nationalists.

Republican Senator Cory Gardner tweeted: "Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism."


Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler had called for a "pro-white" rally in Charlottesville, and white nationalists promoted the gathering widely.

Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said white power groups were present in Charlottesville - including neo-Nazis and factions of the Ku Klux Klan.

The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, said his only message for the white supremacists who had rallied in the city was - "go home." Speaking to reporters in Charlottesville, he said there was no place for white supremacist groups there, or in America.

The far-right protesters were a mix of different groups with shields and batons and the declaration of a state of emergency seemed to have had a significant impact on them, as they started to dissipate.

Source: BBC