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Violence in Virginia: Trump condemns KKK, neo-Nazis after wave of criticism

Author
Reuters,
Publish Date
Mon, 14 Aug 2017, 6:09AM
White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville. Photo / AP
White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville. Photo / AP

Violence in Virginia: Trump condemns KKK, neo-Nazis after wave of criticism

Author
Reuters,
Publish Date
Mon, 14 Aug 2017, 6:09AM

US President Donald Trump included the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups in condemning violence after a white nationalist rally, the White House says, the day after he was criticised for not explicitly condemning white supremacists.

US authorities are investigating the outbreak of violence, which puts new pressure on the Trump administration to take an unequivocal stand against that segment of his political base.

A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 injured, five critically, on Saturday when a man ploughed a car into a crowd of people objecting to the white nationalist rally in the Southern college town of Charlottesville.

About 15 people were injured after rival groups fought pitched battles using fists, rocks and pepper spray in the streets.

The rally stemmed from a long debate in the US South over the Confederate battle flag and other symbols of the rebel side in the Civil War, which was fought over slavery.

Trump, from at his golf resort in New Jersey on Saturday, said "many sides" were involved in Charlottesville. He ignored a reporter's shouted question whether he had spoken out strongly enough against white nationalists.

On Sunday, however, the White House said in a statement Trump's earlier message on Saturday "condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred, and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi, and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together".

Trump's national security adviser HR McMaster told ABC's This Week that "anytime that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism" and said Saturday's car attack "meets the definition of terrorism".

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer also said it was a "terrorist attack".

Virginia police have not yet provided a motive for a man who rammed a car into the crowd, but US prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have opened a civil rights investigation.

Four people have been arrested, including James Fields, a 20-year-old white man from Ohio who is being held in jail on suspicion of crashing the car.

Federal authorities were also looking into a helicopter crash on Saturday that killed two Virginia state policemen aiding efforts to quell the clashes.

On Sunday morning, before the White House statement, Ivanka Trump tweeted for Americans to "be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville." She also posted: "There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis."

Across the US, events were planned on Sunday to "stand in solidarity with Charlottesville ... honour all those under attack by congregating against hate" a loose coalition of civil society groups said in postings on social media.

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