Charlottesville: Trump condemns extremist groups, says White House

White House says Donald Trump condemns extremist groups; in earlier statement he blamed ‘many sides’ for Charlottesville violence.

A woman places flowers at an informal memorial to 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed when a car ploughed d into a crowd of people protesting against the white supremacist Unite the Right rally. Picture: AFP

The White House said President Donald Trump condemned extremist groups including white supremacists, a day after the president didn’t single out far-right nationalists when he blamed “many sides” for the deadly weekend violence in Charlottesville.

Mr Trump drew widespread criticism — including from leaders of his own Republican Party — for not singling out the far-right groups that led the demonstrations in Virginia to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

There were violent clashes with counterprotesters, and three people were killed during the day — one, a local paralegal, when a car ploughed into a group of counterprotesters, and later when a helicopter crashed carrying two state troopers monitoring the demonstrations.

Virginia State Police wear body armour and use riot shields while forming a cordon around police headquarters. Picture: AFP

In a statement, Mr Trump criticised the violence in Virginia and called for reconciliation and the swift restoration of law and order. He also said he had seen violence “on many sides” and declined to answer repeated questions from reporters at his New Jersey golf resort on whether he repudiated the politics of white nationalist groups who had marched.

The White House’s later statement, which wasn’t attributed to a specific official, said the president had indicated “that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.”

Heather Heyer, 32 years old, was identified as the woman killed as a car slammed into her and others demonstrating against the white supremacists Saturday afternoon. Nineteen people were injured by the car, allegedly driven by James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old Ohio resident. Mr Fields was arrested, local police said, and the Justice Department has opened a civil-rights investigation into the crash.

Mr Fields was charged with one count of second-degree murder and other charges, according to local police. He was being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, a spokesman for the jail said.

People mourn at an informal memorial on the spot where 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed. Picture: AFP

Earlier, police had ordered crowds gathered for a protest to leave Emancipation Park, where the scheduled removal of a statue of Gen. Lee touched off the initial demonstrations. The cancellation of the event late Saturday morning dispersed the protesters across the city, which is the home of the University of Virginia.

The scattered groups of demonstrators clashed in melees, fighting with batons and with some throwing newspaper boxes. Some protesters carried sticks and handmade shields and wore helmets.

Family members of Ms Heyer, the victim of the car attack, on Sunday were adamant that the hatred on display in Charlottesville has to stop. “We don’t want this to turn into feelings of anger and hate towards the young man who killed our daughter,” said Susan Heyer, her mother, in an interview. “Hate cannot fix the world. Hate only creates more hate.”

The helicopter carrying the Virginia state troopers went down shortly before 5pm. ET Saturday. The State Police said there is no indication of foul play.

The pilot, Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48 years old, is survived by his wife and two sons, authorities said. Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned 41 on Sunday, leaves behind his wife, son and daughter.

Mr Trump on Sunday continued to face criticism from some fellow Republicans over his remarks the previous day.

The president needs to “correct the record” and make it clear that he opposes groups that promote and spread racism, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said in a Fox News interview. Mr Trump “missed an opportunity to be very explicit here,” said Mr Graham, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

“These groups seem to think they have a friend in Donald Trump in the White House,” Mr Graham added. “Their hate is un-American. They are domestic terrorists and we need more from our president on this issue.”

Mr Trump was criticised during the 2016 presidential campaign from some of his GOP opponents for failing to quickly or thoroughly disavow David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who has been a backer of Mr Trump’s. Mr Trump during the primary later did disavow Mr Duke, who was at the Charlottesville rally.

Mr Trump also drew fire from the man who briefly served as his White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, who made his first public appearance Sunday since he was fired from the Trump administration. The president has to be “much harsher as it relates to white nationalism,” Mr Scaramucci said on ABC. “With the moral authority of the presidency, you have to call that stuff out.”

H.R. McMaster, the White House national security adviser, said the president did intend to criticise the far-right extremists and would likely say more on the subject. Mr Trump’s remarks were intended to condemn all sources of bigotry, including “white supremacists and the Neo-Nazis,” Mr McMaster said on NBC News.

“I am sure you will hear from the president more about this,” Mr McMaster said.

Mr McMaster also said that using a car to plough into counterprotesters in Charlottesville “meets the definition of terrorism.”

On CNN, Tom Bossert, a White House homeland-security adviser, echoed Mr Trump’s comments from Saturday when he said protesters and counterprotesters included “groups from outside that showed up on both sides looking for trouble, dressed in riot gear, prepared for violence.”

Pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper on whether he was equating the counter-protesters with the white nationalist demonstrators, Mr Bossert said that he wasn’t. But he added: “I don’t assign blame or assuage blame or try to press blame to different groups, Jake. The point I’m trying to make here is that what we saw yesterday was an unacceptable planned demonstration of violence.”

Mr Trump had planned to leave his golf resort on Sunday to begin a visit to New York City, his hometown, but he will now arrive in New York on Monday because of a scheduled meeting in Washington, a White House official said.

Wall Street Journal