Here's An Explanation Of White Supremacist Symbols In Charlottesville

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Violent clashes between protesters and counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend thrusted some white supremacist groups not named the Ku Klux Klan into the national spotlight. While many associate white hooded robes and burning crosses with white supremacists, the Los Angeles Times delved into some symbols seen at the rally that might not be as well known.

James Fields Jr.: Here’s everything we know about the accused #Charlottesville murderer so far https://t.co/MIBruciOb9 pic.twitter.com/bhGu9grbXy
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) August 13, 2017

The man suspected of driving his car into the crowd of counter-protesters, James Alex Fields Jr., was photographed holding a shield with the Vanguard America logo before the attack. The logo features white axes with handles wrapped in bundles.

According to the LA Times:

Vanguard America is fascist, adopting an old Nazi slogan, "blood and soil," as its Internet URL and as its anti-globalist ethos. According to its manifesto, “A multicultural nation is no nation at all, but a collection of smaller ethnic nations ruled over by an overbearing tyrannical state. Our America is to be a nation exclusively for the White American peoples who out of the barren hills, empty plains, and vast mountains forged the most powerful nation to ever have existed.”

Other white supremacists opted for white shields with a large black "X" plastered on the front. The newspaper says the symbol is associated with the League of the South, also a nationalist group. According to the group's website, it is a movement to "promote the survival, well being, and independence of … Southerners of European descent who are committed to preserving the traditional culture of the South." (For more information on this and other Across America stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

For the full report, visit the Los Angeles Times