A state of emergency has been declared in the US city of Charlottesville in Virginia, after hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members staged a rally on Saturday, resulting in violent clashes.
At least one person has been confirmed as dead and 34 injured throughout the day, after a car rammed into a crowd of protestors marching against the rally. Witnesses and video evidence suggests the driver had intentionally driven into the crowd.
Earlier in the day several clashes had erupted between the white nationalist protestors and counter demonstrators. On Friday evening, hundreds lit torches marched through the University of Virginia, chanting “White lives matter!” “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”. Amongst those present at Friday's march was David Duke, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
US President Donald Trump did not call out white nationalist or neo-Nazi grups for Saturday’s violence, but instead blamed “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides”.
He faced criticism from Democrats and Republicans, with Republican Sen. Cory Gardner tweeting “Mr. President - we must call evil by its name”.
“These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.”
See more from the New York Times here, the Washington Post here, the BBC here and the Telegraph here.