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White House says Trump's condemnation of Virginia clashes includes white supremacists

FBI leads probe into car attack that killed woman during protest in Charlottesville
  • Solidarity protests planned today following events in Charlottesville
  • Governor denounces bigotry in speech at Charlottesville church
  • Democrats, Republicans take issue with Trump's response
  • Ohio man charged with 2nd-degree murder
  • Helicopter in crash that killed 2 officers was monitoring protests
  • GoFundMe fundraising efforts underway for Heather Heyer

President Donald Trump's remarks condemning violence at a white nationalist rally were meant to include the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups, the White House insisted on Sunday, a day after he was criticized by Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists.

"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." The statement was emailed to reporters covering Trump at his golf resort in New Jersey and attributed to an unidentified "White House spokesperson."

Trump, while on a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation Saturday soon after a car plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, a college town where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for a march. The president did not single out any group, instead blaming "many sides" for the violence.

Trump condemned "in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides," repeating the phrase for emphasis. He added: "It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It's been going on for a long, long time."

That statement has drawn strong criticism.

Rescue workers move victims on stretchers after a car plowed through a crowd of counter-demonstrators marching through the downtown shopping district of Charlottesville, Va. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Rescue workers move victims on stretchers after a car plowed through a crowd of counter-demonstrators marching through the downtown shopping district of Charlottesville, Va. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

'Call evil by its name'

Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner tweeted: "Mr. President — we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism."

Added Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida: "Nothing patriotic about #Nazis, the #KKK or #WhiteSupremacists It's the direct opposite of what #America seeks to be."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican and staunch Trump supporter, wrote: "We reject the racism and violence of white nationalists like the ones acting out in Charlottesville. Everyone in leadership must speak out."

On the Democrat side, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York said "of course we condemn ALL that hate stands for. Until @POTUS specifically condemns alt-right action in Charlottesville, he hasn't done his job."

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a tweet directed at the president: "Repeat after me, @realDonaldTrump: white supremacy is an affront to American values."

Car used as weapon in 'terrorist attack'

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer, appearing Sunday for an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, called the fatal car crash on Saturday a "terrorist attack with a car used as a weapon."

"People are dying and I do think that it's now on the president and on all of us to say 'enough is enough,'" Signer said.

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count related to leaving the scene in relation to a violent incident in which a car rammed counter-protesters. (Charlottesville Police Department/Reuters, Win McNamee/Getty)
James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count related to leaving the scene in relation to a violent incident in which a car rammed counter-protesters. (Charlottesville Police Department/Reuters, Win McNamee/Getty)
 

Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said Sunday that he considered the attack in Charlottesville to be terrorism.

"I certainly think anytime that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism," McMaster told ABC's This Week.

"It meets the definition of terrorism. But what this is, what you see here, is you see someone who is a criminal, who is committing a criminal act against fellow Americans."

The president's homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, defended the president's statement by suggesting that some of the counter-protesters were violent, too.

When pressed, he specifically condemned the racist groups. The president's daughter and White House aide, Ivanka Trump, tweeted Sunday morning: "There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-Nazis."

Virginia State Police Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, left, of Quinton, Va., and Lt. H. Jay Cullen, of Midlothian, Va., were killed Saturday when the helicopter they were piloting crashed while they were helping law enforcement officers monitor the white nationalist rally. (Virginia State Police/Associated Press)
Virginia State Police Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, left, of Quinton, Va., and Lt. H. Jay Cullen, of Midlothian, Va., were killed Saturday when the helicopter they were piloting crashed while they were helping law enforcement officers monitor the white nationalist rally. (Virginia State Police/Associated Press)
 

The U.S. Justice Department opened a federal civil rights investigation after the vehicle struck anti-racist protesters Saturday while they rallied against white nationalists holding a "Unite the Right" rally. The rally drew a mix of white nationalists, far-right militias, alt-right supporters and extremist white supremacist groups like the KKK.

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, faces several charges, including second-degree murder, in the attack, which killed Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal from Greene County, Va. A GoFundMe campaign that started Saturday for Heyer's family has already exceeded its $200,000 US goal.

​Police have not yet provided a motive for the car-ramming incident where 19 others were injured at the scene. In all, 35 people were hurt in the rallies. But U.S. attorneys and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have opened a civil rights investigation, an FBI field office said.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe embraces one of the worshippers at the First Baptist Church in Charlottesville after speaking at morning services. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe embraces one of the worshippers at the First Baptist Church in Charlottesville after speaking at morning services. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Federal authorities were also looking into a helicopter crash on Saturday that killed two Virginia state police officers who were monitoring the clashes.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, declared an emergency and halted the white nationalist rally planned for Saturday, but that did not stop the violence.

Protesters objecting to the planned removal of a Civil War statue in Charlottesville clash with counter-protesters as they enter a park during a 'Unite the Right' rally on Saturday. Police declared it an unlawful gathering and people were forced out. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Protesters objecting to the planned removal of a Civil War statue in Charlottesville clash with counter-protesters as they enter a park during a 'Unite the Right' rally on Saturday. Police declared it an unlawful gathering and people were forced out. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Rival groups fought pitched battles using fists, rocks and pepper spray. Three men were arrested in connection with the violence and face charges that include disorderly conduct, assault and carrying a concealed handgun.

'No place for you in America,' governor says

"Please go home and never come back," was Gov. McAuliffe's message for the white supremacists, delivered at a news conference Saturday.

Source: CBC News:

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