Charlottesville, Virginia, Reels From Deadly White Nationalist Rally

Had ISIS conducted the same kind of recruitment efforts in the United States as the armed militias that descended on Charlottesville this weekend, the Department of Justice would already be investigating and prosecuting them. So will it?

That is the key question now, when even GOP standard bearers like Senators John McCain and Cory Gardner (chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee), plus House Speaker Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush have become willing to use terms like terrorist and white supremacist to describe the hundreds of white, right-wing majority male radicals who kicked off their Friday night in Charlottesville with a torch-lit rally where they chanted White lives matter, "One people, one nation," Jews will not replace us and that time-honored Nazi-era favorite, "Blood and soil (or Blut und Boden in the original German). Read full story

Donald Trump isn't known for mincing his words.  

After Saturday's violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, however, all he could muster was a condemnation of the "egregious display of hated, bigotry and violence on many sides." Somehow, the president of the United States managed to avoid explicitly condemning white supremacists and neo-Nazis proudly marching in American streets. 

His pathetic false equivalency stands in stark contrast to his non-filtered condemnation of radicalism and terror – as long as it was motivated by Islam.

On Saturday, reporters asked him: "Mr. President, do you want the support of these white nationalist groups who say they support you? Have you denounced them strongly enough? A car plowing into people – would you call that terrorism sir?"

Trump's silence spoke louder than any of his empty denunciations.

Hate came to Charlottesville yesterday, local councilman Bob Fenwick said to Haaretz. Were dealing with something very dark and terrible. They came here with the stated objective of hurting people and damaging property – and they succeeded in doing that.

Like many residents, Fenwick said he was disappointed with President Donald Trumps reaction to the events. This is going to take strong leadership. You cant shy from confronting what we saw yesterday, Fenwick said, adding he was happy to learn that federal and local authorities were making progress in the investigation into the violence. (Amir Tibon, Charlottesville) Read the full story

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer called the killing of a 32-year-old woman and the injury of others by a vehicle at a rally in the city a "terrorist attack with a car used as a weapon."

He made the comments in an interview Sunday with NBC's "Meet the Press."
Heather Heyer died when a car rammed into a group of people who were protesting the presence of white supremacists who had gathered in the city for a rally. (AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka addressed the violence of the preceding day at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesvill, Virginia, on Sunday morning, writing, "There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-Nazis."

The White House adviser added, "We must all come together as Americans – and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville." Read the full story

Trying to blame the President for these events is ridiculous," said Mark Zell, head of Republicans Abroad in Israel. "The president supports the United States and the freedom of all Americans. Even before the events escalated, he called for calm and restraint on all sides – in contradiction to [Trumps predecessor, Barack] Obama, who fanned racial tensions.

Going on the offensive, Zell said that he holds leftist thugs, local authorities and organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union responsible for Saturday's events.

I am, of course, no supporter of Nazis or white supremacists. But this very tragic event could have been avoided," he said. "It was clear to all that the leftist thugs would come out to provoke and escalate the events. These thugs are the ugly face of progressivism around the country. They are looking to shut down free speech. Read the full story

Both Trump and Netanyahu are inciters. Both are experts at spurring resentment, stirring hate and sowing division. Both made their way to the top by savaging the elites of which they are members. Both are world-class experts at manipulating their followers, stoking their anger and envy, turning their rage into political energy and using them as a locomotive that drives them to power.

Trump showed his true colors on Saturday by condemning many sides for the atrocious attack in Charlottesville in which 32-year-old Heather Heyer was murdered by a white supremacist. Even if political pressure will now compel him to come out and say something stronger, Trumps inability to condemn the racist nationalists who supported his election is no coincidence. It has been a constant feature of his of his short political career.  Read the full story

White nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia wore militia uniforms, carried guns, waved Nazi and Confederate flags and chanted Nazi slogans. See more

White nationalist figure Richard Spencer blamed police on Saturday for the violence that erupted before and after the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was scheduled to speak before it turned deadly.

Spencer said that he did not attempt to engage in any kind of violence. So the idea that I could be held responsible is absurd. Its like blaming the fire department for a fire. Read the full story

Former U.S. President Barack Obama took to Twitter on Saturday to address the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Obama quoted late South African President Nelson Mandela in three tweets. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion," the messages began. "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." Read the full story

That there are white supremacists out there in America is nothing new. Whats new is that for the first time in my lifetime, and perhaps in my parents lifetimes, too, there is a president in the White House who so values the support of these white supremacists that he wont dare utter a critical word about them, much less fire off an angry tweet.

That was the only conclusion we could reach this weekend as we watched President Trump react to the mayhem in Charlottesville, Virginia, by offering that he condemns the violence on many sides, even saying many sides a second time. As if what happened in Charlottesville was just some big bar brawl or high school rumble for which several different troublemakers were responsible. In his portrayal, these were just groups of demonstrators – with complete moral equivalency between the emboldened white nationalists and the "antifa," as some anti-fascist organizations are known. Read the full story

A woman who identified herself as the mother of the 20-year-old Ohio man accused of driving a car into a group of counter-protesters says he told her he was going to the rally but she wasn't aware of the nature of the event.

Samantha Bloom, of Ohio, apparently only learned of the Charlottesville attack from AP reporters who came to interview her about her son. She said her son hadnt given her any details about the rally but that she told him to be careful and to peaceful.

"I thought it had something to do with Trump," Bloom said about the rally. "Trump's not a white supremacist," she said. Bloom became visibly upset as she learned that dozens of people were injured in Charlottesville. Read the full story

Charlottesville likes to fancy itself a liberal city, and by Virginia standards, it is. But it remains studded with monuments to the Confederacy.

Although it has been some years since I have been back to Charlottesville, it has been a painful day for me, seeing the death and destruction at the place I know so well. (Sean Scully) Read the full story

"There were dozens of people walking around town carrying weapons out in the open," Prof. William Antholis, who lives just a few blocks from the park and passes through it almost every day, told Haaretz. "I have been involved in politics for many years and witnessed demonstrations in the U.S. and abroad, but I don't recall seeing a demonstration in which dozens of people come out armed. That made the whole situation very tense and dangerous, because when you have rival political groups protesting in the streets, and many people in the crowd are carrying guns, it takes just one person to ignite a fire."

This situation was one of the reasons that Virginia's governor, Terry McAuliffe, declared a state of emergency on Saturday morning, thus allowing the local police to get any armed person away from the town center, where the two opposing rallies were set to take place. (Amir Tibon, Charlottesville) Read the full story

In the Trump era, we cannot possibly be surprised that marchers waving Nazi and Confederate flags, calling passersby nigger and denouncing Jews, should include a murderer by motor vehicle. Charlottesville was the predictable atrocity.

Equally predictably, Trump stayed mute for several hours after the incident. When he finally took to Twitter, it was with exquisitely offensive even-handedness, decrying the violence and hate on many sides. As if anyone could miss the point, he repeated the phrase twice. (Samuel G. Freedman) Read the full article

People expressed shock and disappointment after Trump uttered his outrageously bland violence on all sides statement on Saturday night in the wake of the violence and death in Charlottesville. But for Trump, thats par for the course.

Trump doesnt recognize 10 commandments, only one: Whats good for Trump is good and whats bad for Trump is bad. White supremacists, Jew-haters and other bigots love Trump and voted for him, so theyre good. Liberals, do-gooders and Democrats hate Trump and didnt vote for him, so theyre bad. (Chemi Shalev) Read the full story

At least one person died and 30 were injured in a day of violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Virginia on Saturday, with the state's governor blaming the neo-Nazis for sparking the violence and demanding that they go home.

A man from Ohio was held by police on charges relating to the car incident, including second-degree murder. Read the full story

Rabbis and rabbinical students traveled from other parts of the U.S. to join counterprotesters at a large white supremacy rally in Charlottesville on Saturday.

Some were confronted and taunted by white nationalists. The white supremacists were chanting, blood and soil, which is a classic Nazi slogan, and you will not replace us, said Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, a Reconstructionist rabbi. Read the full story

The Jewish mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for stoking the violence that has erupted at a white supremacist rally in the Virginia college town.

Im not going to make any bones about it, Mayor Michael Signer said. I place the blame for a lot of what youre seeing in America today right at the doorstep of the White House and the people around the president. Read the full story

The mass gathering of white supremacists and alt-right supporters in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday not only centered around a Civil War controversy and the historic racial tension in the south – anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi slogans and symbols were prominent as well, with flags depicting swastikas flying side-by-side with Confederate flags.

The most commonly heard chants at the Unite the Right events, the torch-bearing march on Friday night as well as the aborted rally on Saturday, were You Will Not Replace Us! (occasionally replaced with Jews Will Not Replace Us!) and Blood and Soil.

President Donald Trump reacted Saturday to the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, that have left at least one person dead.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence – on many sides, on many sides," Trump said.Read the full story

Hundreds of white marchers with blazing torches clashed with counterprotesters on the Charlottesville campus of the University of Virginia on Friday, the eve of a rally planned by thousands of white nationalists.

At least one person was arrested and several on campus were treated for minor injuries, the Daily Progress newspaper said.

"I am beyond disgusted by this unsanctioned and despicable display of visual intimidation on a college campus," Mayor Mike Singer said in a statement. Read the full story