Crime & Safety
Charlottesville 'Unite The Right' Rally: Feds Investigating Deadly Car Attack, Victim Identified
Hours of violent clashes and protests culminated in tragedy when a car plowed into a crowd of people, killing a 32-year-old woman.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — The Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation after a man reported to have Nazi views allegedly drove into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville Saturday, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring at least 19 others, the culmination of hours of violent clashes between neo-Nazis, members of the alt-right, white nationalists and counter-protesters at the site of a rally staged to oppose the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
In a statement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the violent acts in Charlottesville "strike at the very 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.
The events in Charlottesville began to unfold Friday night when torch-wielding white nationalists marched through the campus of the University of Virginia only to be met by a group of counter-protesters who surrounded the statue of Thomas Jefferson on the university ground. A clash ensued and authorities soon broke up the demonstration. Saturday's events were filled with tension even before the demonstration started. Citing safety concerns, the city had wanted the rally to take place in McIntire Park rather than Emancipation Park, home to the Lee statue, but a court ruling compelled the city to change its decision.
Watch: Co-Organizer Of White Nationalist Rally Chased Away By Angry Crowd
Saturday's rally started earlier than expected and police soon declared an unlawful assembly and ordered people to clear out of Emancipation Park, causing the demonstrators to spill out in the downtown area. White nationalists showed up prepared for violence and as the two opposing groups clashed, questions were raised about the police response to stop the violence. Among those present for the events in Charlottesville were alt-right leader Richard Spencer and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The events took a tragic turn when a Dodge Challenger plowed into a crowd of protesters.
"The Richmond FBI Field Office, the Civil Rights Division, and the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia have opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances of the deadly vehicular incident that occurred earlier Saturday morning," the FBI field office in Richmond said in a statement late Saturday night.
Police say they have arrested and charged 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, in relation to the fatal attack. Fields was known to be a Nazi sympathizer and was photographed with a hate group earlier on Saturday.
Video from the scene showed a Dodge Challenger driving into a crowd of pedestrians before the car reverses from the scene and a number of people can be seen trying to follow it. As the car strikes the crowd, people can be heard screaming.
Police in Charlottesville said the Challenger was going south on Fourth Street at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended a sedan, the impact from which pushed it into a minivan in front of it. The minivan had stopped for pedestrians crossing the street and the impact of the crash pushed the vehicles into the pedestrians. Appearing on Meet The Press on Sunday, Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer called it a terrorist attack with a car used as a weapon.
SEE ALSO: In Virginia Violence, Did President Trump Go Soft On Klan, Fringe Right?: Question Of The Week
Fields' mother told The Toledo Blade that her son had texted her on Friday to let her know he was going to an "alt-right" rally in Virginia. Fields' mother, Samantha Bloom, said she had told her son to be careful and she didn't know about the extremist nature of the rally.
“I thought it had something to do with Trump,” she told the Blade.
Bloom said they had just relocated to the Toledo area from Florence, Kentucky.
One of Fields' high school history teachers in Kentucky, Derek Weimer, said Fields was "very infatuated with Nazis" and with Adolf Hitler, WCPO in Cincinnati reported. Weiner said Field was a quiet and respectful student but had "radical ideas on race."
Charlottesville police stopped the Dodge Challenger only a short while after it had fled the scene. The 32-year-old woman killed in the crash was identified by police as Heather Heyer, a resident of Charlottesville.
"Heather Heyer was murdered while protesting against hate," a GoFundMe page set up by Felicia Correa said.
Two Virginia State troopers also lost their lives on Saturday when their helicopter crashed in a wooded area. Police said the helicopter had been providing assistance with the ongoing events in Charlottesville. The two troopers killed were identified as Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Virginia, and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, Virginia. Bates died just a day before his 41st birthday.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said both Cullen and Bates were close friends of his and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe.
"These heroes were a part of our family and we are simply heartbroken," McAuliffe said in a statement.
This report is being updated.
Photo: Flowers and other mementos are left at a makeshift memorial for the victims after a car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally earlier in the day in Charlottesville, Virginia, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Photo by Steve Helber/Associated Press
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