US Attorney General Sessions Opens Civil Rights Probe in Charlottesville Crash

US Attorney General Sessions Opens Civil Rights Probe in Charlottesville Crash
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2017. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
8/13/2017
Updated:
8/13/2017

Following the deadly vehicular rampage that left a woman dead and scores more injured in Virginia during a “Unite the Right” rally, the U.S. federal government has started a civil rights investigation.

On Saturday night, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a statement, announcing the probe.

“The Richmond FBI Field Office, the Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia have opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances of the deadly vehicular incident that occurred earlier Saturday morning,” Sessions stated. “The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence, and as this is an ongoing investigation we are not able to comment further at this time.”

Ohio man James Alex Fields Jr., 20, was charged with second-degree murder and a slew of other charges in connection with the deadly crash.

The “Unite the Right” rally was initiated to protest against the city of Charlottesville’s decision to take down Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue.

In the protest, white nationalists clashed with other protesters and police. Ex-KKK leader David Duke was reportedly in attendance, as was Richard Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute.

The violence was summarily condemned by Sessions and other Trump administration officials.

Members of white nationalists rally around a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Members of white nationalists rally around a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
A white supremacists carries the Confederate flag as he walks past counter demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
A white supremacists carries the Confederate flag as he walks past counter demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

“When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated,” the attorney general said.

“I have talked with FBI Director Chris Wray, FBI agents on the scene, and law enforcement officials for the state of Virginia. The FBI has been supporting state and local authorities throughout the day,” Sessions said in a statement to numerous media outlets. “U.S. Attorney Rick Mountcastle has commenced a federal investigation and will have the full support of the Department of Justice. Justice will prevail.”

Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, told ABC’s “This Week“ that it appears to be a terrorist attack.

James Fields (center-left) is accused of killing a woman during Saturday's rally.
James Fields (center-left) is accused of killing a woman during Saturday's rally.

“Any time that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism,” he said, adding that it’s also a “criminal act against fellow Americans.”

“The president has been very clear, we cannot tolerate this kind of bigotry, this kind of hatred. And what he did is he called on all Americans to take a firm stance against it,” said McMaster, according to USA Today.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, tweeted on Sunday that “there should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.”

“We must all come together as Americans—and be one country UNITED,” Ivanka Trump added.

Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner are Orthodox Jews and they observe the Sabbath, which starts Friday night and runs through Saturday. They do not engage in social media on that day.

Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of US President Donald Trump, attends an American Leadership in Emerging Technology roundtable in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2017. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
Ivanka Trump, daughter and adviser of US President Donald Trump, attends an American Leadership in Emerging Technology roundtable in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2017. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

During a press conference at his New Jersey golf course on Saturday, President Trump condemned the violence.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” Trump said. “It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time,” he added.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
twitter
Related Topics