A white nationalist rally erupted into deadly violence Saturday as a car plowed into a crowd while demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed, as President Donald Trump came under sharp criticism for his tepid response.
The FBI and federal prosecutors have opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident that killed one woman and wounded 19 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
After Trump was faulted by fellow Republicans for his apparent refusal to criticise far-right hate groups, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that "when such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated."
"Justice will prevail," the top law enforcement official in the country added.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe had already declared a state of emergency to provide more resources to law enforcement when a sedan surged into a crowd of what witnesses said were counter-demonstrators in the picturesque university town.
Some of the injuries from the car ramming were life-threatening. A 20-year-old from Ohio, James Alex Fields, Jr, has been charged with second degree murder, malicious wounding and hit-and-run.
Two responding police officers were killed in a helicopter crash. There was no immediate indication of foul play.
Police overwhelmed
Hundreds had descended on Charlottesville either to march in or rail against a "Unite the Right Rally."
Unrest quickly flared even as riot police and national guard troops flooded the city's downtown.
White far-right supporters, some wearing hats with Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan and others in riot gear with shields and batons, faced off against counter-protesters as each side hurled projectiles before overwhelming police officers positioned between them.
Many of the far-right supporters brandished Confederate battle flags, considered a symbol of racism by many Americans, while others raised their arms in Nazi salutes.
The violence took place near the University of Virginia, whose founder Thomas Jefferson envisioned a country where "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence he co-authored.
The suspect's mother, Samantha Bloom, told the Toledo Blade newspaper from Ohio that her son said last week he was planning to attend the "alt-right" rally in Virginia, but she insisted she was unaware of its extremist nature.
'Terror attack'
Trump, speaking from his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, said "we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides."
Critics focused on the president apparently equating the violence of white supremacist protesters with that of anti-fascist activists.
The president stopped short of condemning white nationalist and supremacist groups, which broadly supported Trump in last year's election.
The president was quickly criticised by liberals such as his 2016 election opponent Hillary Clinton, who did not name Trump but tweeted that "Every minute we allow this to persist through tacit encouragement or inaction is a disgrace, & corrosive to our values."
But some prominent Republicans were more direct.
Downtown Charlottesville was almost deserted by late afternoon – aside from a heavy security presence – but the city council authorised the police chief to impose a curfew, if necessary.