President Donald Trump says he condemns “all types of racism and acts of violence” as he marks the one-year anniversary of deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia
It was a dramatic shift in tone from last year, when he said there was “blame on both sides” for the violence that broke out when white nationalists descended on Charlottesville to protest the removal of Confederate statutes and marched through town shouting racist slurs. Trump said then the group included “fine people.”
In Saturday’s tweet, Trump says the “riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division.”
He adds that, “We must come together as a nation. I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!”
Police are blocking off streets and mobilizing hundreds of officers for the anniversary of a deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
State and local authorities framed this weekend’s heightened security as a necessary precaution, but some community activists are concerned the measures could be a counterproductive overreaction.
An independent investigation of last year’s rally violence found the chaos stemmed from a passive response by law enforcement and poor preparation and coordination between state and city police.
University of Virginia professor Lisa Woolfork says she doesn’t know anyone who feels safer because of the increased police presence. Woolfork is also a Black Lives Matter Charlottesville organizer.