It was a tragic incident in Charlottesville, Va. that unfortunately dominated the headlines this weekend after a man drove his vehicle into a crowd of counter protesters following a white supremacist rally.
Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old Virginia woman, was killed in the incident. Heyer was attending the rally to counter neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups who gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
James Alex Fields, 20 of Ohio, is facing second-degree murder charges, among others, for driving his Dodge Charger into the crowd of counter protesters. He was pictured marching with a group of white nationalists known as Vanguard America.
The white supremacist rally got started Friday night with a tiki-torch light march through Charlottesville that was ultimately broken up by police.
The main “Unite the Right” rally was supposed to start at noon, but it was shut down when state and local authorities declared a state of emergency. It initially was set to go ahead but police declared the gathering an unlawful gathering.
The Detroit Red Wings were forced to issue a statement condemning the usage of their logo by white nationalists marching to the rally.
The rally was a tough spot for journalists to be in as well — Katie Couric said two of her producers were sprayed with urine by people at the rally.
On Sunday, Jason Kessler — the man who organized the rally — was chased out of Charlottesville by protesters who blamed him for starting the town’s problems.
Trump eventually weighed in on the situation, condemning the protests and saying “this kind of violence has no place in America.” He was speaking at a signing for a new veterans bill that passed the House unanimously.
He later made some remarks from his New Jersey golf course, in which he condemned violence from “many sides.”
His wife was the first Trump to weigh in on the protests and urged people to communicate without “hate in our hearts.”
Politicians from across the spectrum criticized the white supremacists.
Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel both weighed in to criticize the white nationalists who were populating Charlottesville.
Sen. Orrin Hatch said white nationalist ideas have “no place in civil society.”
Hatch was among the Republican senators who spoke out to criticize President Trump’s initial milquetoast condemnation of the events in Charlottesville.
Multiple Republican senators called out Trump for not saying white nationalist groups were responsible by name and ignoring questions shouted to him about neo-Nazis who support him.
Among them was Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said Trump “missed an opportunity” to fully separate himself from white supremacist supporters.
Hillary Clinton took aim at Trump not being more forceful with his criticism. Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, making his return to the spotlight, said Trump could have been harsher in his words condemning the violence.
Frequent Trump critic Rep. Maxine Waters said the White House is now the “White Supremacists’ House” because of Trump’s lackluster condemnation and his continued employment of controversial staffers.
Charlottesville Mike Signer laid part of the blame for the violence in his town Saturday at Trump’s feet due to the nature of his campaign and Trump’s rhetoric.
Even his daughter, Ivanka Trump, went further than Trump in naming white supremacist groups and neo-Nazis as a problem.
After all that criticism, Trump’s campaign still chose Sunday morning as the best time to release their latest ad praising him and slamming his critics in the media and Democrats for stifling his agenda.
The White House later issued a statement clarifying that Trump “of course” condemned white supremacists.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said all the criticism was proof that Trump can’t do anything right in his critics eyes. Even if he went to Charlottesville and shot Fields “between the eyes,” he would still be criticized, Huckabee said.
Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart said not enough was being said about the leftist protesters who he said were just as violent as the white supremacist groups during Saturday’s clashes.
There was some criticism on the other side of the coin too: former KKK leader David Duke told Trump he needs to remember it was “white Americans” who put him in the White House.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions was also criticized for his statement issued in the wake of Trump’s speech.
However, Sessions would later order a civil rights investigation into the incident. As a part of that investigation, the FBI will work to determine if anyone else was involved in planning the attack.
Vice President Mike Pence said in Colombia Sunday night that Trump would make sure the Justice Department had all the resources it needs in order to conduct the civil rights investigation.
Sadly, Heyer wasn’t the only person to die as a result of the protests in Charlottesville.
Two Virginia State Police troopers died when the helicopter they were in, patrolling the air above Charlottesville, crashed near a residence outside the city. No one on the ground was injured.
It doesn’t appear this will be the last such rally in the near future. White supremacist Richard Spencer will be headlining a White Lives Matter rally at Texas A&M University on Sept. 11.
White House intrigue didn’t stop during the weekend.
A report surfaced alleging Steve Bannon may be on the hot seat because Trump believes he’s behind leaks targeting national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
Scaramucci alleged people in the White House set him up to fail in his job, claiming hundreds of people didn’t want him there.
Scaramucci also spent an hour live streaming an interview where he took questions from the internet. During that time, he managed to comment on his sunglasses and his relationship with Vice President Mike Pence, who he’s nicknamed “46.”
The North Korea situation continued to percolate during the weekend, though some administration officials sought to assure Americans the situation is not out of control.
CIA Director Mike Pompeo said there should be no concern about a “imminent threat” of nuclear war between the United States and North Korea, or an attack from the Hermit Kingdom.
McMaster said Trump didn’t draw a red line when he said the United States is “locked and loaded” if Kim Jong Un makes any more threats toward the United States because Trump doesn’t do that.
Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about escalating tensions with North Korea Friday night. He later spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron about the same situation later.
Issues between the U.S. and Russia also continued to heat up with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov threatening American diplomats and staff.
Trump also ruffled some feathers in Venezuela with his comments refusing to rule out military action in the South American country. The son of Nicolas Maduro, the country’s leader, threatened to “take the White House” with guns if Trump ordered military action.
Sen. Marco Rubio is also apparently on a bad list in Venezuela as well — a report indicates a former Venezuelan official targeted him for assassination.
Meanwhile, the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Kremlin and Trump’s campaign kept up. Robert Mueller reportedly is in talks to interview White House staffers, both current and former.
Staying abroad, Trump plans to order U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to determine if he needs to investigate whether China is forcing American companies to turn over their intellectual property.
There was some sad news from northern Iraq where two American service members were killed and five others were injured. The tragedy did not come in contact with enemy combatants and the military didn’t release the circumstances of the incident.
The State Department also condemned the murder of seven “White Helmet” Syrian first responders who were killed by masked men.
