Police escort far-right demonstrators during a rally at Lafayette Park opposite the White House August 12, 2018 in Washington, DC, one year after the deadly violence at a similar protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. - Last year's protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one person dead and dozens injured, saw hundreds of neo-Nazi sympathizers, accompanied by rifle-carrying men, yelling white nationalist slogans and wielding flaming torches in scenes eerily reminiscent of racist rallies held in America's South before the Civil Rights movement. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The latest on events marking the anniversary of violent white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia (all times local):

A group of about 30 white nationalists has marched to a park near the White House for what they call a rally in favor of white civil rights.

Thousands of counterprotesters are in the area, too, and jeered and heckled the white nationalists as they made their way down the street surrounded by police.

The demonstration and counterdemonstration come on the anniversary of last year’s deadly gathering of neo-Nazis, skinheads, Ku Klux Klan members, and others in Charlottesville, Virginia.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: The video below contains language that some may fight offensive.

Sunday’s gathering is being led by the principal organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” event, Jason Kessler.

A contingent of about 30 white nationalists is marching down a Washington street toward the White House surrounded by a protective bubble of police officers and vehicles.

Hundreds of counterprotesters are walking alongside the group but keeping on the sidewalks, many of them shouting and taunting the nationalists as they make their way to a park in front of the White House.

The demonstration and counterdemonstration come on the anniversary of last year’s deadly gathering of neo-Nazis, skinheads, Ku Klux Klan members, and others in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Sunday’s gathering is being led by the principal organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” event, Jason Kessler, who calls the demonstration a rally for white civil rights.

More than 1,000 protesters are gathered in Freedom Plaza near the White House to rally against a white nationalist demonstration scheduled for later in the day.

The demonstration is being held on the first anniversary of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned violent and led to the death of a counterprotester.

Makia Green, who represents the Washington branch of Black Lives Matter, told Sunday’s crowd that: “We know from experience that ignoring white nationalism doesn’t work.”

The counterprotesters plan to march to Lafayette Square in front of the White House, just before the arrival of the white nationalists. Police have erected a maze of barricades to keep the two sides apart.

The counterprotesters are expected to far outnumber the white nationalists.

The mother of a woman killed when a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally last summer has visited the site of the attack to mark the anniversary of her daughter’s death.

Heather Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, embraced supporters Sunday in downtown Charlottesville. At one point, she asked the crowd to raise their fists in solidarity, and she laid flowers at a makeshift memorial.

Bro said there’s still “so much healing to do.” She said the city and the country have a “huge racial problem” and that if it’s not fixed, “we’ll be right back here in no time.”

Bro also said the day was about more than just her daughter. She recognized the other victims of the attack, which injured dozens of people, and thanked the two Virginia state troopers killed in a helicopter crash for their sacrifice.

Lt. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke Bates died when their helicopter crashed while deployed as part of the response to last year’s violence.

A park across the street from the White House is already filling up with people who oppose a white nationalist demonstration that is scheduled to take place later Sunday.

The white nationalists are gathering in Washington on the first anniversary of their rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned violent and led to the death of a counterprotester.

A stage has been set up in Lafayette Park and rap music is playing for a crowd of about 300, many of whom are carrying signs saying “Shut down white supremacy.”

Uniformed police officers and a line of police barricades have cut the park in half, restricting the counterprotesters to the northern half, farthest from the White House.

A counterprotest organizer, speaking from the stage, said: “We will be here until these fascist forces are gone, however long that takes.”

The white supremacist rally is scheduled to end at 7:30 p.m.

More than 100 people are demonstrating against racism in downtown Charlottesville, marking the one-year anniversary of a violent white nationalist rally and protesting this year’s ramped-up police presence.

The group began marching Sunday morning after a rally held at a city park and made its way toward downtown. Some marchers linked arms as they walked.

The group directed chants against police officers who were accompanying the march, including “cops and Klan go hand in hand.”

Law enforcement officials faced blistering criticism in the wake of last year’s rally for what was perceived as a passive response to the violence that unfolded.

A review by a former U.S. attorney found a lack of coordination between state and city police and an operational plan that elevated officer safety over public safety.

Dozens of activists and residents have gathered at a Charlottesville city park to protest racism and to observe the one-year anniversary of a rally by white supremacist that turned deadly.

The Rev. Seth Wispelwey is a founder of a group of clergy and lay people called “Congregate C-ville” last year. The group came together in direct response to white nationalists who gathered in Charlottesville for a “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017.

On that day, white supremacists and counterprotesters clashed in the city streets before a car driven into a crowd struck and killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Wispelwey says the city’s residents are still reeling from the violence that day, but he expressed hope that the anniversary can be a turning point.

This item has been updated to correct the spelling of Wispelwey in one instance.

A day after tensions between police and community activists nearly boiled over on the University of Virginia’s campus, the city of Charlottesville plans to mark Sunday’s anniversary of a deadly gathering of white supremacists with a rally against racial hatred. But 115 miles (185 kilometers) away in Washington, the principal organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” event will hold a “white civil rights rally,” and police are preparing for counterprotesters.

Jason Kessler abandoned plans for a similar anniversary event in Charlottesville. His Washington permit application says he expects 100 to 400 people Sunday afternoon in Lafayette Park, near the White House.

But some leading figures in the white nationalist movement have said they won’t attend or encouraged supporters to stay away. And the events likely will be dwarfed by counterprotests, for which permits also have been issued. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of about 30 white nationalists has marched to a park near the White House for what they call a rally in favor of white civil rights.

Thousands of counterprotesters are in the area, too, and jeered and heckled the white nationalists as they made their way down the street surrounded by police.

Makia Green, who represents the Washington branch of Black Lives Matter, told Sunday’s crowd that: “We know from experience that ignoring white nationalism doesn’t work.”

The counterprotesters planned to march to Lafayette Square in front of the White House, just before the arrival of the white nationalists. Police have erected a maze of barricades to keep the two sides apart.

The counterprotesters are expected to far outnumber the white nationalists.

The demonstration and counterdemonstration come on the anniversary of last year’s deadly gathering of neo-Nazis, skinheads, Ku Klux Klan members, and others in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Sunday’s gathering is being led by the principal organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” event, Jason Kessler. </s> ASSOCIATED ARTICLE: Violence Erupts at Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Police Respond

The University of Virginia is welcoming the class of 2021 to grounds in the wake of the violence and national attention the Unite the Right rally brought to Charlottesville.

The university held its convocation for first year students on the lawn on August 20.

White nationalists led a torch march through grounds before clashing with counterprotesters just over a week prior to the students’ convocation ceremony.

Several university administrators and speakers encouraged students to stand up to hate and take action if it comes to the university again.

"'Do onto neighbors as you would like them to do on to you,' the Golden Rule is applied. I just got a palpable sense here from the speakers of the dais and the students that here is family and they're going to look out for each other," Karl Racine, D.C. Attorney General.

UVA president Teresa Sullivan spoke to the students saying that the events of violence “will not define our university or this town.” </s> Officials have declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville, Virginia, as white nationalists clashed with counter-protesters ahead of a planned major alt-right rally.

Thousands of supporters of "Unite the Right" are expected to descend on the area this weekend, with some pictured holding Nazi flags and making fascist salutes.

There were clashes last night after hundreds of members of the group marched on the University of Virginia, where they were met by counter protests.

Two people are said to have been seriously injured.

Anti-fascist protesters at the university also reported that anti-fascist protesters were surrounded and pepper-sprayed by a large crowd of torch-wielding hard right marchers.

Local authorities in Charlottesville declared a state of emergency in the area, meaning that it can request extra resources.

Police said that arrests were being made of people gathered in the city's Emancipation park, which has become a focus point for the far-right protesters.

Virginia's governor Terry McAuliffe has also announced a state of emergency over the situation to "restore public safety" and has put the Virginia National Guard on alert.

It is now clear that public safety cannot be safeguarded withoutadditional powers, and that mostly-out-of-state prot4esters have come toVirginia to endanger our citizens and property. > I am disgusted by the hatred, bigotry and violence that thereprotesters have brought to our state over the past 2 hours.

Virginia representative Don Beyer also condemned the group as "weak, ignorant and fearful" in a series of posts on Twitter.

Meanwhile the US first lady Melania Trump also took to social media to appeal for peace.

Far right protesters have focused on Charlottesville after the city's authorities decided to remove a statue of Confederate forces commander Robert E Lee.

Unite the Right reportedly called the march to "affirm the right of Southerners and white people to organize for their interests". </s> The planned "Unite the Right 2" rally in Washington, DC turned out to involve fewer than 30 white nationalists and hundreds of counter-protesters. Justin Mitchell reports.

THE “Unite the Right 2” rally in Washington DC was a complete washout — and the non-stop rain had nothing to do with it.

The planned white nationalist gathering across from the White House was cut short when only about 20 supporters showed up to hear speeches that were overpowered by the chants of thousands of counter-protesters.

The small band of white nationalists huddled together for what they billed as “Unite the Right 2,” separated by metal barricades and scores of police from more than a thousand counter-protesters who filled the majority of the park.

The counter-protesters, packed in so tight they stood shoulder to shoulder, shouted slogans including “Nazis aren’t welcome!” and “No hate! No KKK! No fascist USA!”

When it began to rain, the crowd chanted, “It’s hot, it’s wet, but we aren’t done with the Nazis yet!”

Several speakers addressed the white nationalists and reporters, with organiser Jason Kessler — who had predicted a crowd of up to 400 — saying, “I condemn neo-Nazis.”

“This isn’t about racism. This is about free speech,” Kessler said.

The dud of a rally — held on the one-year anniversary of last year’s deadly gathering of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and others in Charlottesville, Virginia. — had been called for 5:30pm, but ended a good half-hour before that.

The white nationalists were driven off in white vans, accompanied by a police escort.

Earlier, cops in yellow vests escorted the white nationalists past jeering counter-protesters as they marched to the park.

Following the rally, a group of about 200 anti-fascist activists, many wearing black masks, marched around the nation’s capital in the rain and confronted police officers who pushed them back.

President Trump — who came under fire last year for saying there was “blame on both sides” for the Charlottesville violence — tweeted a message ahead of the rally.

Democrats attacked Mr Trump the following day, with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine telling CBS’ Face the Nation, “There is a concerted effort that he has been engaged in to divide people, including dividing them based on race.”

Meanwhile, the mother of Heather Heyer, who was killed when a Nazi sympathiser allegedly rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville last year, laid flowers at a makeshift memorial near the scene on Sunday.

This article was originally published in the New York Post and has been reproduced here with permission. </s> White Nationalist Protests in Charlottesville, Virginia has turned violent forcing Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to declared a state of emergency Saturday morning.

Charlottesville, Virginia has been a key area in the White nationalists movement after the City Council voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a city park formerly called Lee Park but renamed in June to Emancipation Park. The statue of Lee so far remains in the park but many want it removed.

Mayor Michael Signer voiced his displeasure about the protest in a Facebook post you can see below:

House Speaker Paul Ryan weighed in on the situation in a tweet.

Along with the Melania Trump but nothing from Donald Trump or Mike Pence as of yet. </s> Protests erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, ahead of Saturday’s “Unite the Right” rally. White nationalists gathered for a planned event, but were dispersed following a declaration of unlawful assembly. Protesters have been arrested, according to state police, though the number is not yet clear.

“We’re closing the University right now and sheltering people in place,” Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told The Atlantic in an email.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency “to aid state response to violence at Alt-Right rally in Charlottesville.”

The University of Virginia said on Twitter that it was canceling all scheduled events and programming today “effective at noon.” Below is a gallery of photos from the scene. </s> James Alex Fields Jr. at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017.

Eze Amos / Reuters file </s> CHARLOTTESVILLE, Aug 13 — US authorities today are investigating the outbreak of violence in Virginia following a white nationalist rally that killed one person and injured more than 30, presenting US President Donald Trump with a major domestic challenge.

The violence in the Southern college town of Charlottesville yesterday was widely condemned, with many politicians and activists on both the left and right also criticising Trump, a Republican, for waiting too long to address it and when he did so, failing to explicitly condemn the white-supremacist marchers who ignited the melee.

Virginia police have not yet provided a motive for a man plowing a car into a crowd of people objecting to the white nationalists, but US attorneys and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have opened a civil rights investigation into the crash, an FBI field office said.

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. The vehicle killed a 32-year-old woman and injured 19 people, five of them critically.

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

Demonstrators march on an Interstate 580 off-ramp to block traffic during a rally in response to the Charlottesville, Virginia car attack on counter-protesters after the

This morning, Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and White House adviser, appealed on Twitter 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.”

US Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, who chairs the Republican Party’s Senate election effort, called on the president to condemn “white supremacists” and to use the term.

“Calling out people for their acts of evil - let’s do it today - white nationalist, white supremacist,” Gardner said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday. “We will not stand for their hate.”

An organiser of yesterday’s “Unite the Right” rally, which was staged to protest the planned removal of Confederate war hero Robert E. Lee’s statue from a park, said supporters of the event would not back down.

“Absolutely we are going to have further demonstrations in Charlottesville because our constitutional rights are being denied,” said Jason Kessler, whom civil rights groups identified as a white nationalist blogger. He did not specify when.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, declared an emergency and halted Saturday’s planned rally, but that did not stop the violence.

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

“There is no place for you here,” McAuliffe said, addressing white supremacists. “There is no place for you in America.”

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 said on Saturday that there was more than one side to the Charlottesville incidents. “We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” he told reporters at his New Jersey golf course.

He did not specifically mention or fault the role of white nationalists.

On Sunday, White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert defended Trump’s response. “I think declaring racial bigotry unacceptable is a very smart and calming thing for the president to do,” Bossert said on CNN. “It’s not meant not to condemn hate.”

The Charlottesville violence is the latest clash between far-rightists, some of whom have claimed allegiance to Trump, and the president’s opponents. At his January inauguration, black-clad anti-Trump protesters in Washington smashed windows, torched cars and clashed with police, leading to more than 200 arrests.

About two dozen people were arrested in Charlottesville in July when the Ku Klux Klan rallied against the plan to remove the Lee statue. Torch-wielding white nationalists also demonstrated in May against the removal. — Reuters
A white nationalist rally called "Unite the Right" takes place in Charlottesville, Virginia.