The first Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia from August 11 to 12, 2017. Its goals were to oppose the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from Lee Park and to unify the white supremacist movement in the United States. The far-right protesters included alt-right members, white supremacists and white nationalists, neo-Confederates, Klansmen, neo-Nazis, and various militias, among others. The event turned violent after the protesters clashed with counter-protesters, leaving many injured. On the morning of August 12, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and the Virginia State Police declared the assembly unlawful. At around 1:45 p.m., a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters near the rally site and fled the scene, killing one person and injuring 19. Attorney General Jeff Sessions described the car attack as domestic terrorism. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., was charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in state court as well as an additional 30 offenses in federal court, including violations of federal hate crime laws.