Tensions flared Monday night after demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, interrupted City Council members in the first meeting since violent clashes between white supremacists and counterprotesters.
Attendees at the packed meeting said they were upset that an August 12 “Unite the Right” rally was allowed to happen.
Demonstrators stood near the dais and unfurled a large banner that read, “BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS.” The meeting was briefly suspended.
Police said James Alex Fields Jr. rammed his car into a group demonstrating against the “Unite the Right” rally, killing Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. Two Virginia state troopers were killed in a helicopter crash nearby after monitoring events.
Fields, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses.
Speakers at the council meeting said police seemed to stand by as neo-Nazi marchers and other white nationalists demonstrated.
Before the meeting was suspended, the crowd was “called to order.” Mayor Mike Signer said people who spoke out without being recognized would be removed.
“What’s the alternative?” Signer asked. “For everybody to shout and scream?”
One woman had already been told she would be removed because of her outburst.
The crowd started chanting, “Let her speak, let her speak!”
At that point, the council suspended the meeting and the members left the chamber.
