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Mother of suspected driver confirms he planned to attend Va. rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — 10:25 P.M. UPDATE: 

A woman who identified herself as the mother of the man accused of driving his car into a crowd of peaceful protesters says he told her he was going to the rally.

Samantha Bloom confirmed details about her son's car and his trip to Virginia, saying she received a text from him last week that said he'd gotten some time off from work and was going to a rally.

She said her son hadn't given her any details about the rally but that she told him "to be careful" and to peaceful.

Bloom became visibly upset as she learned that dozens of people were injured during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. She said she and Field had just relocated to the Toledo area from Florence, Kentucky, outside of Cincinnati.

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9:40 P.M. UPDATE: 

Authorities say a 20-year-old Ohio man accused of driving a car into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts.

The Charlottesville Police Department said in a statement Saturday night that James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio also faces three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene.

Col. Martin Kumer, superintendent of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, said Fields was in custody there Saturday night. Kumer says he doesn't believe Fields has obtained an attorney yet.

He says a bond hearing is scheduled for Monday.

8:40 P.M. UPDATE:

The suspect in the car ramming of a group of protesters in Virginia has been identified as James Alex Fields Jr., 20, from Ohio,

according to NBC29.

6:30 P.M. UPDATE: 

Officials say the deaths of two people in a Virginia State Police helicopter crash near Charlottesville have been linked to a violent white nationalist rally earlier in the day.

It was not immediately clear how the crash was connected to the rally. Corinne Geller, a Virignia State Police spokeswoman, says the pilot and a passenger were killed in the crash Saturday afternoon.

4:05 P.M. UPDATE:

A hospital official says one person is dead and 19 are injured after a car plowed into a group of protesters in downtown Charlottesville.

The victim is a 32-year-old woman who was crossing the street.

A state official says the male driver of the car is in custody.

A photo from the scene shows the car with an Ohio license plate corresponding to Lucas County, where Toledo is,

according to our sister station WHIO.

2:36 P.M. UPDATE: 

A car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white supremacist rally in downtown Charlottesville Saturday afternoon, ratcheting up the tension in an increasingly chaotic confrontation in this usually quiet college town.

It is unclear how many were injured; an Associated Press reporter saw at least one person on the ground receiving medical treatment immediately after the car careened into the line of several hundred people.

There were several hundred protesters marching in a long line when the car drove into a group of them.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday morning at white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and police dressed in riot gear ordered people to disperse after chaotic violent clashes between white nationalists and counter protestors.

Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler had called for what he termed a "pro-white" rally to protest the city of Charlottesville's decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a downtown park.

On Friday night, alt-right activists marched in a torch-lit rally through the University of Virginia campus and clashed with rival protesters, CNN reported.

Protesters chanted "blood and soil" and "one people, one nation, end immigration" as they rallied around a statue of Thomas Jefferson, WWBT reported.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MARCH AND PROTESTS

The march occurred several hours before a Saturday rally in Emancipation Park around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Police believe the rally could attract up to 6,000 people, CNN reported. The Southern Poverty Law Center said the event could be "the largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades in the United States."

Police broke up Friday’s march, calling it “unlawful assembly.” University officials condemned the gathering. Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said in a statement that the rally was “a cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism, and intolerance” that passed by the statue Jefferson, who founded the university in 1819.

“Everyone has a right under the First Amendment to express their opinion peaceably, so here's mine: not only as the Mayor of Charlottesville, but as a UVA faculty member and alumnus, I am beyond disgusted by this unsanctioned and despicable display of visual intimidation on a college campus," Signer said.

University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan said she “strongly” condemned the clashes.

"Law enforcement continues to investigate the incident, and it is my hope that any individuals responsible for criminal acts are held accountable,” she said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Cox Media Group

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