These are the new symbols of hate
State of emergency declared amid violence at Charlottesville's 'Unite the Right' rally
Story highlights
- State, local emergencies declared as fistfights break out
- Torch-bearing white nationalists marched Friday night
Charlottesville, Virginia (CNN)Virginia's
governor declared an emergency, and police worked to disperse hundreds
of protesters in Charlottesville after clashes broke out ahead of
Saturday's "Unite the Right" rally of white nationalists and other
right-wing groups.
Fistfights
and screaming matches erupted shortly before rally's scheduled noon ET
start. The skirmishes unfolded following a scuffle Friday night between
torch-bearing demonstrators and counter-protesters at the nearby
University of Virginia.
Saturday's
rally was the latest event drawing white nationalists and right-wing
activists from across the country to this Democratic-voting college town
-- a development precipitated by the city's decision to remove symbols
of its Confederate past.
Demonstrators clash late Saturday morning in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Here are the latest developments:
• President Donald Trump tweeted:
"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!"
•
Police began to break up crowds shortly before noon after city
officials declared the gathering an "unlawful assembly." Police officers
spoke on bullhorns, directing people to leave.
• The declaration was made after fistfights and screaming matches erupted in several locations late Saturday morning.
• Some protesters fired pepper spray at other demonstrators, state police said.
• Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency "to aid state response to violence," according to a post on his Twitter account.
• An unspecified number of protesters have been arrested in Charlottesville, state police said.
Police in riot gear stood
shoulder to shoulder behind shields early Saturday afternoon, at times
advancing toward crowds, CNN video shows. Members of the Virginia
National Guard also were there.
It
wasn't immediately clear what led to the fights, though tensions and
rhetoric were running hot. At one point, a few dozen white men wearing
helmets and holding makeshift shields chanted, "Blood and soil!" Later,
another group chanted slogans like, "Nazi scum off our streets!"
Demonstrators gather Saturday ahead of a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
People
punched and kicked each other during various scuffles, which often were
broken up from within crowds, without police intervention, CNN video
shows.
Earlier, a group of clergy and other counter-demonstrators, including activist and Harvard professor Cornel West, held hands, prayed and sang, "This Little Light of Mine."
Police
presence was heavy, with more than 1,000 officers expected to be
deployed, city officials said. Police anticipated the rally would
attract as many as 2,000 to 6,000 people, and the Southern Poverty Law
Center said it could be the "largest hate-gathering of its kind in
decades in the United States."
Counter-protesters gather Saturday morning in Charlottesville, Virginia, ahead of a "Unite the Right" rally.
White nationalists wield torches
White
nationalists carrying torches surround protesters Friday night at the
foot of a statue of Thomas Jefferson on the University of Virginia's
campus.
Charlottesville,
once home to Thomas Jefferson, is known as a progressive city of about
47,000 people. Eighty percent of its voters choose Hillary Clinton
during last year's election.
But
far-right activists and Ku Klux Klan members have come here in recent
months, outraged by the city's intention to remove traces of its links
to the Confederacy -- including plans to remove a statue of Confederate
Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The move
follows efforts by communities across the South to remove Confederate
iconography from public property since the 2015 rampage killings of nine black churchgoers in Charleston by a self-described white supremacist.
Ahead
of Saturday's planned rally, tensions roiled Friday night as white
nationalists -- some holding what appeared to be backyard tiki-style
torches -- marched onto the University of Virginia's campus.
White nationalists and others march Friday night through the University of Virginia campus.
Chanting,
"Blood and soil" and "You will not replace us," the group rallied
around a statue of Thomas Jefferson before they clashed with
counter-protesters, CNN affiliate WWBT reported. The group left the university's grounds when police arrived and declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.
City and UVA officials condemned Friday's march.
"In
my 47 years of association with @UVA, this was the most nauseating
thing I've ever seen. We need an exorcism on the Lawn," Larry Sabato,
director of the university's Center for Politics tweeted.
Charlottesville Mayor Mike
Signer released a statement referring to Friday's rally as a "cowardly
parade of hatred, bigotry, racism, and intolerance march down the lawns
of the architect of our Bill of Rights."
"Everyone
has a right under the First Amendment to express their opinion
peaceably, so here's mine: not only as the Mayor of Charlottesville, but
as a UVA faculty member and alumnus, I am beyond disgusted by this
unsanctioned and despicable display of visual intimidation on a college
campus," he added.
Friday's march took place
shortly after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction allowing
right-wing activists to hold Saturday's rally.
City
officials had tried to "modify" the rally's permit to move the
demonstration from the park with the Lee statue more than a mile away to
McIntire Park, citing safety concerns.
'We're going to start standing up for our history'
In
February, the city council voted to remove the Lee statue, but that is
on hold pending litigation. The council also voted to rename two city
parks that had been named for Confederate generals; one of those,
Emancipation Park, was due to be the site of Saturday's rally.
The Ku Klux Klan held a protest in July, in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Saturday's
event had residents on edge, and more than 40 local business owners
near the park have asked the city to protect them.
"I
have a lot of fears. I think most of us are just anxious, we don't want
there to be violence," business owner Michael Rodi said of the rally.
"We
don't want to see a bloodbath, we don't want to see looting, we don't
want to see mass arrests, we don't want to see the police having to turn
on citizens," he added.
Jason
Kessler, who organized Saturday's "Unite the Right" rally, said he
doesn't consider himself to be a white nationalist. But, he said, "we're
going to start standing up for our history."
"The
statue itself is symbolic of a lot of larger issues. The primary three
issues are preserving history against this censorship and revisionism --
this political correctness," he told CNN Friday.
"The
second issue is being allowed to advocate for your interests as a white
person, just like other groups are allowed to advocate for their
interests politically. And finally this is about free speech. We are
simply trying to express ourselves and do a demonstration, and the local
government has tried to shut us down."
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