Trump names, denounces groups

WASHINGTON -- Under pressure from right and left, President Donald Trump condemned white supremacist groups by name on Monday, declaring "racism is evil" after two days of public equivocation and internal White House debate over the deadly race-fueled clashes in Charlottesville, Va.

In a hastily arranged statement at the White House, Trump branded members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as "criminals and thugs."

The groups are "repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans," he said.

In his initial remarks on the violence Saturday, Trump did not single out the groups and instead bemoaned violence on "many sides." Those remarks prompted stern criticism from fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, who urged him to seize the moral authority of his office to condemn hate groups.

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Taking pains to insist "as I said on Saturday," Trump denounced the hate groups and called for unity.

"We must love each other, show affection for each other and unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry and violence," he said.

Trump for the first time mentioned Heather Heyer by name as he paid tribute to the woman killed when a car rammed counterprotesters.

There were fewer responses to Trump's statement Monday, though Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a frequent Trump critic, tweeted, "Well done Mr. President."

At a trade event later in the day, Trump was asked why it took two days for him to offer an explicit denunciation of the hate groups.

"They have been condemned," Trump responded before offering a fresh criticism of some media as "fake news."

He followed with a tweet declaring "the #fakenews will never be satisfied."

Trump noted that the Justice Department has opened a civil-rights investigation.

His attorney general, Jeff Sessions, said earlier Monday on ABC's Good Morning America, "You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation toward the most serious charges that can be brought because this is an unequivocally unacceptable and evil attack that cannot be accepted in America."

Sessions also defended Trump's initial response to the violence.

Sessions said that the violence in Charlottesville met the definition of domestic terrorism, a phrase that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been urging the president to use to describe the melees on Saturday.

"It does meet the definition of domestic terrorism in our statute," Sessions said. "We are pursuing it [at] the Department of Justice in every way that we can make a case."

Early Monday, the CEO of the nation's third-largest pharmaceutical company said he was resigning from the president's American Manufacturing Council, citing "a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism."

"America's leaders must honor our fundamental views by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal," Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier said in a tweet announcing he was stepping down from the panel. Frazier is one of just a handful of black chief executives of a Fortune 500 company.

Trump lashed back at Frazier on Twitter, saying Frazier "will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!"

On Monday night, the CEO of athletic wear manufacturer Under Armour also resigned from the panel, saying his company "engages in innovation and sports, not politics." Kevin Plank did not specifically mention Trump or Charlottesville, but he said his company will focus on promoting "unity, diversity and inclusion" through sports.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich followed, writing that while he had urged leaders to condemn "white supremacists and their ilk," many in Washington "seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them."

Trump's softer statement on Saturday had come as graphic images of a car plowing into a crowd in Charlottesville were playing continually on television. White nationalists had assembled in the city to protest plans to take down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and counterprotesters gathered in opposition. Fights broke out, and then a vehicle rammed into the opponents of the white supremacists. One woman was killed and many more were badly hurt. Twenty-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit-and-run.

SUSPECT DENIED BAIL

Fields was denied bail Monday in his first court appearance.

Prosecutors did not detail the evidence against the Maumee, Ohio, man who went to Virginia to attend the rally, according to his mother, who spoke over the weekend.

Monday's hearing shed little light on what Sessions called an "evil attack."

Fields replied "no sir,"when asked in court whether he has any ties to the Charlottesville community.

Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville was killed Saturday when, police say, Fields barreled toward her and other counterprotesters in his 2017 Dodge Challenger as he drove "at a high rate of speed," rear-ended another car and pushed vehicles into a crowd of pedestrians. Police say Fields then backed up and fled.

At his appearance before Judge Robert H. Downer Jr. in Charlottesville General District Court, Fields said he could not afford an attorney and was appointed one by the court.

According to police records released Monday, Fields was previously accused of beating his mother and threatening her with a knife.

Samantha Bloom, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, repeatedly called police about Fields in 2010 and 2011, telling officers he was on medication to control his temper, transcripts from 911 calls show.

Records show that Fields was arrested and put in juvenile detention after his mother reported in 2011 that he stood behind her wielding a 12-inch knife.

The judge informed Fields that he could not be defended by the Charlottesville Public Defender's Office because a relative of someone who works for the office had been involved in Saturday's events.

"I'm going to make a decision that you could not have a bond until you see your attorney," the judge said in appointing Charles Weber to represent Fields.

CITY STILL RESTIVE

The streets of Charlottesville broke out in violent clashes after white nationalist groups arrived to hold a noontime rally -- one of a series in recent months that groups affiliated with far-right ideologies have held since the decision to remove the statue. Police officers with riot gear and tear gas dispersed the crowds shortly before the rally's scheduled start, leaving demonstrators angry and Charlottesville reeling.

Those tensions spilled into Monday, as Matthew Heimbach, an Indiana man who is active in white nationalist groups, appeared outside the complex where Fields made his video appearance. In front of cameras, Heimbach blamed Saturday's violence on the police and counterprotesters. As he spoke, bystanders chanted, "Nazis, go home!"

"We will be back in Charlottesville," Heimbach said. "We will stand here. We will stand everywhere."

Protests continued in other cities, as well, with thousands of people protesting outside Trump Tower in New York City as Trump went home for the first time since his inauguration.

In Durham, N.C., protesters toppled a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier. Activists took a ladder up to the statue and used a rope to pull down the Confederate Soldiers Monument that was dedicated in 1924.

CHIEF AIRS 'REGRETS'

Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said Monday that he "absolutely has regrets" about the violence over the weekend.

As the world watched pandemonium in Charlottesville unfold live on television Saturday, officers seemed to stand on the sidelines as fists flew, bats swung and objects soared through the air.

"We were hoping for a peaceful demonstration," Thomas said at a news conference. "Gradually the crowd size increased along with aggressiveness and hostility of the attendees towards one another."

On Monday, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he directed his administration to conduct an "extensive review" of how police prepare and respond to rallies. Law enforcement experts and the city's former police chief were critical of the way police responded, saying the ostensibly hands-off approach seemed to allow the violent fracas to grow.

Information for this article was contributed by Jonathan Lemire, Julie Bykowicz, Jay Reeves, Dake Kang, Sarah Rankin, Brian Witte, Michael Balsamo, Rebecca Gibian, Verena Dobnik and Jonathan Drew of The Associated Press; by Glenn Thrush, Laurie Goodstein, Jess Bidgood and Hawes Spencer of The New York Times; and by Sari Horwitz, Joe Heim, Michael E. Miller, Justin Wm. Moyer and Arelis R. Hernandez of The Washington Post.

A Section on 08/15/2017