In Feb of 2017 the city council of Charlottesville, Virginia voted to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, a confederate war hero from Lee Park. Several groups, including the Sons of Confederate Veterans, filed a lawsuit against the city to put the statue back. Lee Park was renamed Emancipation Park as a stride to rewrite history and erase negativity.

Aug 11 was the scheduled date for the white nationalist protestors protesting the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue. Virginia governor, Terry McAuliffe, announced that they had the right to protest but denounced their political and social views, calling them “abhorrent”.

Later that evening hundreds of white nationalists gathered in Emancipation Park, shouting Nazi associated and white nationalist chants. The mayor of Charlottesville called the protest “a cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism and intolerance,” writes ABC7 Chicago.

The next day white nationalist protestors were met with resistance and outbreaks of violence. A man drove his car through the protest, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer along with 19 other injured protestors.

Later, the car attacker was caught and identified as 20-year-old James Alex Fields, Jr, and was charged with second-degree murder.

Later in the day President Trump writes on Twitter, “We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Let’s come together as one!”

The president waited until Aug 13th to denounce white nationalist and Nazi views.

“The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he 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,” A White House spokesperson said.

The POTUS also chose to denounce white nationalist and Nazi ideology via Twitter.

“Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists.”