The rally occurred amidst the backdrop of controversy generated by the removal of Confederate monuments throughout the country in response to the Charleston church shooting in 2015 . The event turned violent after protesters clashed with counter-protesters , leaving more than 30 injured . On the morning of August 12 , Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency , stating that public safety could not be safeguarded without additional powers . Within an hour , the Virginia State Police declared the rally to be an unlawful assembly . At around 1:45 p.m. , self-identified white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. deliberately rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters about away from the rally site , killing Heather Heyer and injuring 19 other people . Fields fled the scene in his car but was arrested soon afterward ; he was tried and convicted in Virginia state court of first-degree murder , malicious wounding , and other crimes in 2018 , with the jury recommending a sentence of life imprisonment plus 419 years . The following year , Fields pleaded guilty to 29 federal crimes in exchange for federal prosecutors ' agreement not to seek the death penalty
Charleston church shooting
Charleston church shooting
Unite the Right rally