Local authorities and the governor of Virginia have declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville after Saturday’s planned “Unite the Right” protest descended into chaos.
https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi/status/896405542305923074
The protesters, consisting of white supremacists, white nationalists, and leaders of the alt-right movement, opposed the removal of a Confederate General Robert E. Lee statue. They have been ordered to leave the site of the protest, Emancipation Park, amid violent encounters with the counter protesters who outnumbered them. According to video footage shared by several reporters on the scene, tear gas and pepper spray have been used to control the crowds, and physical fights have broken out throughout the morning.
https://twitter.com/JackSmithIV/status/896399904758796288
Governor McAuliffe has declared a state of emergency to aid state response to violence at Alt-Right rally in Charlottesville
— Governor Ralph Northam (@VAGovernor73) August 12, 2017
While the protest wasn’t scheduled to begin until noon, the scene grew more violent in the hours leading up to the declarations of emergency, with protesters chanting “You will not replace us,” as a group of white supremacists had done the night before during a protest on the University of Virginia campus. According to the New York Times, counter protesters shouted at the crowd from across metal barricades that surrounded the park.
Before 11am local time, state police lined the park in riot gear and warned protesters that they were engaging in an “unlawful assembly” and would be arrested if they did not leave the park. According to the Washington Post‘s Joe Heim, the protesters have marched and evacuated to McIntyre Park. Some have been seen being taken away in vans. Despite this, alt-right leader Richard Spencer has told Heim that the rally isn’t being continued at an alternate location.
https://twitter.com/EricaCorder/status/896397680628436992
https://twitter.com/JackSmithIV/status/896403661408133120
Riot police now forming up in the park, spraying tear gas. Alt-right holding their line while moving back. Extremely violent still. pic.twitter.com/RU4fFIO6By
— Joel Gunter (@joelmgunter) August 12, 2017
Virginia governor has declared state of emergency. Not sure what that means for the rallygoers who are now at McIntyre Park to rally pic.twitter.com/nuGmMlAgXf
— Joe Heim (@JoeHeim) August 12, 2017
More vehicles arriving to pick up white nationalist rallygoers. Plates from MI, TX, PA, IL, SC. pic.twitter.com/MqicamLUsy
— Joe Heim (@JoeHeim) August 12, 2017
Jason Kessler, the organizer of the “Unite the Right” protest, has told reporters that he plans on suing the city. Speaking on Periscope, Kessler said prior to the event’s dispersal that the rally’s speakers, including Spencer, weren’t allowed to enter the speaking area to start the rally. Kessler also alleged that police weren’t stopping counter protesters from blocking the entrance to Emancipation Park.
https://twitter.com/TheMadDimension/status/896401256025141248
Jason Kessler, Charlottesville organizer, tells @BoKnowsNews he plans to sue the city. Also says Richard Spencer was maced in the face
— Stefan Becket (@becket) August 12, 2017
While House Speaker Paul Ryan and First Lady Melania Trump have tweeted their condemnation of the “United the Right” protest, President Donald Trump tweeted his denouncement more than an hour after the states of emergency were declared. While Trump’s tweet said we must “condemn all that hate stands for,” he did not directly acknowledge the protest in Charlottesville.
The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 12, 2017
Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let's communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence. #Charlottesville
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) August 12, 2017
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017
Trump’s lack of specificity has left his tweet open to interpretation. Richard Spencer interpreted Trump’s remarks as a potential denouncement of Antifa, the extremist far-left protest group.
Or did Trump denounce the state police that cracked down on peacefully and lawfully assembled demonstrators? https://t.co/jOgiw4pPzK
— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 12, 2017
Or did Trump denounce the state police that cracked down on peacefully and lawfully assembled demonstrators? https://t.co/jOgiw4pPzK
— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 12, 2017
Trump did offer a follow-up tweet, declaring the events of the day in Charlottesville “sad!”