Three people have died and 35 were injured in Charlottesville, Virginia, after a series of protests organized by white supremacists and counter demonstrations turned violent.
One person died and 19 others were injured early Saturday afternoon after a three-vehicle crash in a downtown area where counter-protesters had gathered.
Another two died later in the afternoon after a Virginia State Police helicopter crashed several miles away near a golf course. The Associated Press, citing state officials, reported that the helicopter had been involved in monitoring the protests earlier. The Charlottesville Daily Progress identified the troopers killed as H. Jay Cullen of Midlothian and Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton.
The protests began Friday night as torch-wielding white supremacists demonstrated to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in a local park. By Saturday morning, the protests had turned violent, as counter demonstrators turned out in force.
As the two sides traded blows and hurled bottles and chemical irritants at one another, police evacuated a downtown park, putting an end to another rally planned for noon before it even began.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency shortly before 11 a.m., blaming the violence on "mostly out-of-state protesters."
"I am disgusted by the hatred, bigotry and violence these protesters have brought to our state over the past 24 hours," McAuliffe (D) said.
However, clashes continued on side streets and throughout the downtown. In the early afternoon, three cars collided in a pedestrian mall packed with people, injuring 19 and sending bystanders running and screaming. According to a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, the injuries from the crash ranged from life-threatening to minor.
Susie McClannahan, 24, said counterprotesters were marching on Fourth Street when she saw a "silver gray vehicle" drive through the crowd, and then immediately shift into reverse in what she described as full speed.
"Everyone was in shock and all of a sudden we heard people scream get to the wall because the driver was backing up," McClannahan said. She said those closest to the accident ran to those injured in the street.
A tweet from the mayor of Charlottesville, Mike Signer, soon indicated that there has been at least one fatality associated with the collision at the pedestrian mall. That fatality was later identified as a 32-year-old woman by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
The Associated Press, citing state officials, reported that the driver of the car filmed ramming into the crowd and then fleeing is in custody. Later, a suspect, identified as James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, was arrested and held on charges of second-degree murder, malicious wounding and failure to stop in an accident that resulted in death, according to CNN. The Washington Post reports that the car used in the incident is registered in his name.