For soundbites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J_Ba-PG64U
{O/C} {Good evening}
A state of emergency is now in place in the U.S. state of Virginia after a gathering of hundreds of white supremacists turned deadly.
A car ploughed into a group of counter-protesters, leaving one dead and dozens injured.
{Take SOT}
{Upsound 00:00 - 00:03}
Video captured the terrifying moment when a car slammed into a crowd of people, knocking them into the air in every direction.
Among the road rage victims, a 32-year-old woman was killed and several others were left bleeding from various wounds.
Witnesses say the driver intentionally targeted those protesting against white supremacists in a "Unite the Right" protest.
{Soundbite}
It was a very narrow street and he sort of slowed down and then just slammed into them, very very hard.
{VO}
The driver then backed up and dragged at least one person he had already hit.
Police arrested 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. as the suspected driver of the crash.
His mother was shocked to learn he had been charged with second degree murder.
{Soundbite}
SAMANTHA BLOOM, Mother of Suspect James Alex Fields Jr.:
I didn't know it was white supremacist. I thought it had something to do with Trump, Trump's not a supremacist.
{Upsound 01:02 - 01:03}
{VO}
The deadly event erupted after two days of chaotic protests consumed the college town of Charlottesville over a plan to remove a statue of Confederate general and war hero Robert E. Lee.
A U.S. federal judge ordered city authorities to allow the protest by white nationalists and other extremists.
The move sanctioned a torch-lit parade through the city in what critics say was eerily reminiscent of Nazi party propaganda events.
But tensions boiled over two hours after police shut down Friday's "United the Right" protest at a nearby park.
{Soundbite}
JASON KESSLER, "United the White" Protest Organiser:
Look, we're being gassed now. The Charlottesville Police Department is allowing people to come in here and gas us. They won't allow us into the event even though we had a permit.
{Soundbite}
If you do not disperse immediately, you will be arrested.
{VO}
The state's governor called a state of emergency and blamed neo-Nazis for sparking the unrest.
Still, counter-protesters fought pitched battles with far-right protesters using rocks and pepper spray.
Often blamed for empowering white supremacists by what many call Donald Trump's hateful rhetoric on the campaign trail, the president condemned the violence and called it bigotry.
{Soundbite}
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. President:
We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.
It has been going on for a long time in our country, not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama, it has been going on for a long, long time.
It has no place in America.
{VO}
Then he called for unity.
{Soundbite}
The hate and the division must stop and must stop right now.
No matter our colour, creed, religion or political party, we are all Americans first.
{VO}
But the chaos triggered another tragedy when a helicopter monitoring the crisis from above crashed in a wooded area.
Two police officers were killed as a result.
{Sonya Artero, TVB News.}
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