The Latest: Victim's friend calls her death an act of terror
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The Latest on incidents related to violent clashes between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left three dead (all times local)
8:30 p.m.
A close friend of the woman who was killed when a car plowed into peaceful protesters in Charlottesville says she cared about people and stood up for equality.
Marissa Blair said Sunday night at a vigil where the crash happened that Heather Heyer's death was "an act of terror." She says it's a hate crime and should be treated as such.
Blair says she was with Heyer when the crash happened. She says the driver "barreled down," and she could hear the wheels as he accelerated. She says the driver "deserves everything he gets and more."
Twenty-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. is charged with second-degree murder and other counts in the car crash. He could also face federal charges, depending on the outcome of an FBI investigation.
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7:25 p.m.
A Nevada college student who was photographed marching in Virginia before a deadly white supremacist rally says he's not an "angry racist."
KTVN-TV interviewed 20-year-old Peter Cvjetanovic after he was identified online in a photo showing white nationalists marching through the University of Virginia campus carrying torches Friday.
On Saturday, a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters as tensions turned violent at a related rally.
Cvjetanovic says he didn't expect the photo to spread but that he's a white nationalist who cares for all people and wants to "preserve what we have."
Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, after a recent photo of the two reportedly surfaced, condemned the events and said he didn't know Cvjetanovic.
The University of Nevada, Reno, also denounced the movement as corrosive to society.
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6:15 p.m.
A former teacher of the man accused of plowing his car into counter protesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia says the suspect had a keen interest in military history, Hitler and Nazi, Germany.
Derek Weimer on Sunday said that he taught social studies to 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. during his junior and senior years in Kentucky, calling him an average student.
Weimer recalled that school officials had singled out Fields in 9th grade for his political beliefs and that he had made comments that alerted his social studies teacher at the time to "deeply-held, radical" convictions on race and Nazism.
Weimer said Fields was a big Trump supporter because of what he believed to be Trump's views on race. Trump's proposal to build a border wall was particularly appealing to Fields, Weimer said.
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3:55 p.m.
A Charlottesville hospital says many of the patients injured after a car drove into a crowd of protesters at a white nationalist rally are improving.
A spokeswoman for the University of Virginia Health System said in a statement Sunday afternoon that nine of the patients the hospital treated have been released. Ten others are in good condition.
A day earlier, the hospital said five patients were in critical condition, four were in serious condition, six were in fair condition and four were in good condition.
The statement also says the hospital treated additional patients related to Saturday's events but that the hospital can't give an exact number.
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3:35 p.m.
Virginia State Police say the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are assisting in the investigation into a fatal helicopter crash that claimed the lives of two state troopers.
The helicopter crashed shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday in a wooded area while assisting in law enforcement activities related to the clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville.
The pilot, 48-year-old Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen of Midlothian, and 40-year-old Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, died at the scene.
White nationalists were in Charlottesville on Saturday to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
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2:40 p.m.
The man who organized a rally in Charlottesville that sparked violent clashes between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters tried to hold a news conference a day after the deadly event, but a crowd of several hundred booed him and forced him away from the lectern.
Jason Kessler is a blogger based in Charlottesville, and as he came out to speak Sunday afternoon near City Hall, he was surrounded by cameras and people. Some people chanted and made noises with drums and other instruments. Among the chants: "You're wearing the wrong hood," a reference to the Ku Klux Klan.
Kessler mimicked looking at his watch and indicated he'd wait to speak.
A few people approached, crossing the line of TV cameras.
One man pushed Kessler. A woman tackled him.
Kessler asked officers on the scene for help. Eventually they escorted him off. No arrests were reported.
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12:55 p.m.
A friend of the woman killed when a car rammed into a group of protesters in Charlottesville says she's no different than a casualty of war.
Felicia Correa said Sunday that her friend Heather Heyer died standing up for people of color.
Correa says Heyer and other counter protesters put their lives on the line to confront hateful bigotry. She says she doesn't see the difference between Heyer or someone who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. She says the vehicle that plowed into a group of peaceful protesters was a terrorist attack as well.
Correa says she grew up with Heyer, who was 32. She says she was a sweet person. She has set up a fund to raise money for Heyer's family.
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12:30 p.m.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is calling on President Donald Trump to more strongly condemn the bigotry and violence that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend.
Democrat McAuliffe told reporters at First Baptist Church in Charlottesville on Sunday that angry political rhetoric needs to stop.
He says the Republican president "needs to come out stronger" against the actions of white supremacists. The governor says "they are Nazis and they are here to hurt American citizens, and he needs to call them out for what they are, no question."
McAuliffe spoke to Trump on Saturday about the violence in downtown Charlottesville. He says "twice I said to him we have to stop this hateful speech, this rhetoric."
The governor says protesters were "emboldened to walk around our streets with weapons and to spew hatred."
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12:05 p.m.
The man accused of ramming a car into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville was photographed that morning holding a shield with the emblem of a white supremacist group.
Vanguard America denies that James Alex Fields Jr. is a member of its group and says it handed out shields to anyone in attendance who wanted them. The Anti-Defamation League says Vanguard America believes the U.S. is an exclusively white nation, and uses propaganda to recruit young white men online and on college campuses. Vanguard America confirmed via Twitter account that members were in Charlottesville on Saturday morning, part of what's believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade, to rally against plans to remove a Confederate statue. Hundreds of others came to protest against the racism.
In the photo, taken by the New York Daily News , Fields stands with a handful of men, all dressed similarly in the usual Vanguard America uniform of khakis and white polo shirts. The men hold white shields with a black-and-white logo of two axes. The Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee is in the background. The Daily News says the photo was taken about 10:30 a.m. Charlottesville officials say the car crashed into the crowd, killing one, at 1:42 p.m.
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10:15 a.m.
Federal law enforcement authorities have started a civil rights investigation into a deadly car crash in Charlottesville that left one protester dead and several others injured.
The FBI said in a statement late Saturday that it is collecting facts and evidence in an ongoing investigation.
Heather Heyer died when a car rammed into a group of people who were protesting the presence of white supremacists who had gathered in the city for a rally.
The car's driver, James Alex Fields Jr. was charged with second-degree murder and other counts. He could also face federal charges, depending on the outcome of the FBI's investigation.
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9:30 a.m.
Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer called the killing of a 32-year-old woman and the injury of others by a vehicle at a rally in the city a "terrorist attack with a car used as a weapon."
He made the comments in an interview Sunday with NBC's "Meet the Press."
Heather Heyer died when a car rammed into a group of people who were protesting the presence of white supremacists who had gathered in the city for a rally.
The car's driver, James Alex Fields Jr. was charged with second-degree murder and other counts.
The rally's purpose was to condemn a decision by the city to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
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7:23 a.m.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe will visit two Charlottesville churches and speak to congregants following violent clashes in the city between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters that left three dead.
The governor's office says in a release that Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam will join McAuliffe at both Sunday services.
McAuliffe and Northam are scheduled to visit Mount Zion First African Baptist Church and First Baptist Church.
Three were killed and dozens were injured amid what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade to protest the city's decision to remove a Confederate monument. A car rammed into a crowd of protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman, and a state police helicopter crashed into the woods, leaving two troopers onboard dead.
President Donald Trump criticized the violence and called for a return to law and order. But his critics say his racially-tinged rhetoric has exacerbated the nation's political tensions and emboldened racists.
2:21 a.m.
The mayor of Charlottesville blamed the nation's intensifying political divisions for the violent clashes between white supremacist groups and counter protesters that left three dead.
Mayor Michael Signer on Saturday bemoaned the "very sad and regrettable coarseness in our politics."
Three were killed and dozens were injured amid what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade to protest the city's decision to remove a Confederate monument. A car rammed into a crowd of protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman, and a state police helicopter crashed into the woods, leaving two troopers onboard dead.
President Donald Trump criticized the violence and called for a return to law and order. But his critics say his racially-tinged rhetoric has exacerbated the nation's political tensions and emboldened racists.
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This story corrects the name of the church in the second entry to "First Baptist Church."