Car Drives Into Protesters at Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally

Several people were injured Saturday when someone drove a car through a crowd of protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It was unclear how many people were injured in the incident. It occurred as people were leaving the area after police had deemed the demonstration unlawful. Multiple bouts of violence had broken out at the rally between demonstrators and counterprotesters.

Video of the fights showed armor-clad, shield-carrying demonstrators trading punches with similarly armed counterprotesters as they marched.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said on Twitter that he had declared a state of emergency “to aid state response to violence at alt-right rally in Charlottesville.”

“The acts and rhetoric in Charlottesville over past 24 hours are unacceptable and must stop. A right to speech is not a right to violence,” he tweeted.

President Donald Trump responded to the violence on Twitter, urging all sides to “come together as one” and condemning “hate.”

The gathering at the University in Virginia, dubbed the “Unite the Right” rally, had previously prompted the state’s governor to warn people to stay away from the campus.

A smaller group of demonstrators also rallied Friday night, marching through the campus carrying tiki torches and shouting slogans like “white lives matter,” in preparation for the larger Saturday event.

As they marched Friday, the group of white marchers encountered a group of counterprotesters, and a small scuffle ensued. A chemical irritant was sprayed into the crowd, and police were able to break up the clash. At least one person was arrested, and a few people were treated for minor injuries.

The larger rally Saturday was expected to draw crowds of 2,000 to 6,000 people who were upset about the planned removal of a statue commemorating the memory of Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

IN PHOTOS: Virginia City Rocked by White Nationalist Protests


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