A number of brawls broke out between white nationalist demonstrators and anti-fascist counter protesters in Charlottesville, VA on Saturday, August 12, with the number of those injured and arrested still yet to have been determined.
The "Unite The Right" rally and march that was initially planned to start at 12:00 noon, was disrupted hours before it even began, with fists, sticks, and objects flying back and forth between the two sides as authorities organized on the sidelines but remained in large part uninvolved as most of the conflict went down. Many of the protesters who showed up to denounce the removal of a statue of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee, came with shields and helmets, thus indicating that they had anticipated there would be bloodshed.
The violence would go on for hours, prompting both the President and First Lady to issue statements encouraging unity. While it took awhile for law enforcement to get around to confronting armed members on both sides, some of whom walked freely with guns in their hands, the city was eventually forced to take action, with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declaring a state of emergency before midday.
