Hundreds gather in US city to oppose white supremacy

Over 600 people gathered in Charlottesville to express their rejection of white supremacy, almost a year after the neo-Nazi protests left three dead in this US city.

The protest was initially scheduled to take place on Saturday in a plaza at the University of Virginia, in honour of former US President Thomas Jefferson. It was the site of 2017's march in which white supremacist groups carried torches and chanted slogans.

However, the police surrounded the area and installed a robust security system to control entrance to the site, which caused the demonstration to move to another area of the campus, Efe news reported.

According to organisers' estimates, more than 600 people marched around the university campus shouting anti-racist slogans and carrying placards with messages condemning white supremacy.

Many of the participants of this peaceful demonstration had already met on Saturday morning to remember the fatalities of 2017 and highlight the importance of inclusion within their communities.

University President James Ryan said that the institution should work for the sake of "diversity, tolerance, equity and inclusion" so that events such as those that occurred in 2017 are never repeated.

The protests in Charlottesville, which became a symbol of racial tension in the US, took place on August 12, when white supremacists marched through the city in protest against the withdrawal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, a General of the Confederate side during the US civil war.

After exhibiting fascist symbols for hours, a neo-Nazi protester rammed his vehicle into a crowd participating in an anti-racist counter-march, which killed a woman and injured 19 others.

Two policemen died in a helicopter accident when they came to quell the protests.

--IANS

mag/ksk