Gov. Hogan Calls Charlottesville White Nationalist Violence 'Disgusting'

BALTIMORE, MD — In the aftermath of a bloody weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia that left a woman dead and injured at least 19 others on Saturday — the culmination of hours of violent clashes between neo-Nazis, members of the alt-right, white nationalists and counter-protestors at the site of a rally staged to oppose the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan condemned the attacks and some Baltimore residents gathered in the evening to denounce hate.

Three people were killed, including two Virginia State Police troopers, in events related to a Nazi-flavored "Unite the Right" rally, authorities said. A car reportedly driven by 20-year-old Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, plowed into a crowd of people believed to be counter-demonstrators. Fields has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and hit-and-run attended failure to stop with injury.

Hogan said on his Facebook page Sunday that Maryland stands in solidarity with its friends and neighbors in Virginia, today and always. He and the First Lady "are heartbroken over the deaths of two Virginia State Troopers and the innocent bystander, and all those injured as a result of the violence in Charlottesville this weekend," the governor said. "Hate and bigotry only lead to violence and death, and there is no place for it our society."

Comments from President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed "many sides" for the violent clashes between the protesters and white supremacists in Virginia. Reaction online, from ordinary Americans to politicians in both parties slammed Trump for not calling Fields' deadly plunge into the crowd as terrorism and for not specifically criticizing the right-fringe demonstrators who had marched wearing red hoods and chanting neo-Nazi slogans. The president said the "hatred and bigotry" broadcast across the country had taken root long before his political ascendancy.

That was not how the Charlottesville mayor assessed the chaos that led the governor to declare a state of emergency, contending that Trump's campaign fed the flames of prejudice.

And Hogan, who never supported Trump's presidential campaign and went so far as to write in his father on the presidential ballot rather than voting for the controversial New Yorker, said Saturday afternoon that "violence, hate, and bigotry all of kinds must be confronted and condemned. The disgusting and vile acts taking place in Charlottesville have absolutely no place in our society and must be stopped."

Hogan has offered Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe Maryland’s full support, including any services Maryland State Police can provide.

"American values have nothing to do with white supremacy and hate, and Maryland will continue to stand in strong opposition to those who use it for personal or political gain," Hogan said.

Meanwhile, a few dozen people gathered Saturday night in west Baltimore for a rally in front of the CVS store that was set on fire during the riots in April 2015 in solidarity with Charlottesville. Some of the speakers had just returned from Virginia and said what happened in Charlottesville could happen anywhere, WBAL reports.

"What's going on in Charlottesville is indicative of what's going on in the entire country right now," said Kelly Dietrich.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said on social media that the "city stands with #Charlottesville Mayor @MikeSigner. Our diversity is our strength. #MayorsStand4All #StandWithCville."

Photo: Flowers and other mementos are left at a makeshift memorial for the victims after a car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally earlier in the day in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Photo by Steve Helber/Associated Press