The rally saw extremely low turnout , with only 20 to 30 of Kessler 's supporters marching and thousands of counter-demonstrators amid a heavy police presence . The rally was widely described as a " pathetic failure " and " embarrassing . " The first Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that occurred in Charlottesville , Virginia from August 11 to 12 , 2017 . Its goals were to oppose the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park and to unify the white supremacist movement in the United States . The far-right protesters included alt-right members , white supremacists and white nationalists , neo-Confederates , Klansmen , neo-Nazis , and various militias . The event turned violent after the protesters clashed with counter-protesters , leaving many injured . On the morning of August 12 , Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and the Virginia State Police declared the assembly unlawful . At around 1:45 p.m. , a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters near the rally site , killing one person and injuring 19 . Attorney General Jeff Sessions described the car attack as domestic terrorism . The driver , James Alex Fields Jr. , has been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in state court , and has been charged with an additional 30 offenses in federal court , including violations of federal hate-crime laws
rammed his car
Charlottesville car attack
Unite the Right 2