Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. The nationalists were holding the... (Associated Press) 
 
 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Latest on the white nationalist rally being held in Charlottesville (all times local): 
 
 11:54 p.m. 
 
 Three more men have been arrested in connection to the violent clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville. 
 
 The Virginia State Police announced late Saturday that Troy Dunigan, a 21-year-old from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, a 21-year-old from Louisa, Virginia, was charged with assault and battery; and James M. O'Brien, 44, of Gainesville, Florida, was charged with carrying a concealed handgun. 
 
 Three people died during the violent day in Charlottesville. 
 
 A 32-year-old woman was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of protesters. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old from Ohio, was charged with second-degree murder. 
 
 Two state police troopers were killed when their helicopter crashed in the woods on the outskirts of town. 
 
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 11:10 p.m. 
 
 U.S. officials have opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances of the deadly car attack that took place amid clashes of white nationalists and counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia. 
 
 The investigation was announced late Saturday by officials of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia and the Richmond field office of the FBI. 
 
 In a statement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions says U.S. Attorney Rick Mountcastle has begun the investigation and will have the full support of the Justice Department. 
 
 Sessions says, "The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice." 
 
 He adds, "When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated." 
 
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 11 p.m. 
 
 A white nationalist blames police for the violence that erupted before and after a rally where he was scheduled to speak before it turned deadly. 
 
 Richard Spencer told The Associated Press on Saturday that he doesn't take responsibility for the violence and accused state and local police of endangering lives in how they handled the rally. 
 
 Spencer said that he "did not attempt to engage in any kind of violence. So the idea that I could be held responsible is absurd. It's like blaming the fire department for a fire." 
 
 He said that he was pepper-sprayed twice during the day. 
 
 Spencer said he recommended that people should disperse after the state of emergency was declared. 
 
 Spencer also said he found President Donald Trump's comments on the Charlottesville violence to be "rather vague and kind of lame." 
 
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 10:25 p.m. 
 
 A woman who identified herself as the mother of the man accused of driving his car into a crowd of peaceful protesters says he told her he was going to the rally. 
 
 Samantha Bloom, of Ohio, confirmed details about her son's car and his trip to Virginia, saying she received a text from him last week that said he'd gotten some time off from work and was going to a rally. 
 
 She said her son hadn't given her any details about the rally but that she told him "to be careful" and to peaceful. 
 
 Bloom became visibly upset as she learned that dozens of people were injured during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. 
 
 Bloom said she and Fields had just relocated to the Toledo area from Florence, Kentucky, a Cincinnati, Ohio, suburb 
 
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 9:40 p.m. 
 
 Authorities say a 20-year-old Ohio man accused of driving a car into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts. 
 
 The Charlottesville Police Department said in a statement Saturday night that James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio also faces three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene. 
 
 Col. Martin Kumer, superintendent of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, said Fields was in custody there Saturday night. Kumer says he doesn't believe Fields has obtained an attorney yet. 
 
 He says a bond hearing is scheduled for Monday. 
 
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 8:45 p.m. 
 
 Virginia state police said one of their agency's helicopters crashed Saturday outside Charlottesville, killing two troopers. 
 
 Police said the helicopter was assisting law enforcement officers monitoring the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. 
 
 Police said Lt. H. Jay Cullen of Midlothian and Trooper-pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton were killed in the crash. 
 
 The crash happened just a few hours after a car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting against the white nationalist rally. One person was killed and at least two dozen were hurt. 
 
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 This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates' first name. It had been spelled Burke. 
 
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 6:35 p.m. 
 
 Officials say the deaths of two people in a helicopter crash near Charlottesville, Virginia, have been linked to a violent white nationalist rally earlier in the day. 
 
 It was not immediately clear how the crash was connected to the rally. Corinne Geller, a Virignia State Police spokeswoman, says the pilot and a passenger were killed in the crash Saturday afternoon. 
 
 The crash happened just a few hours after a car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting against the white nationalist rally. One person was killed and at least two dozen were hurt. 
 
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 5:20 p.m. 
 
 The organizer of a rally that drew hundreds of white nationalists and other extremists to Charlottesville says he disavows the violence that eroded it. 
 
 Jason Kessler said in an interview Saturday evening that whoever drove a car into a group of counter-protesters "did the wrong thing." He said he was saddened that people were hurt. 
 
 Kessler is a local blogger and activist who described the event as a pro-white rally. He planned it to protest the city's decision to remove a Confederate monument. 
 
 He also criticized law enforcement's response to the event, which was dispersed before speakers could take the stage. 
 
 He said they did a poor job controlling the chaos to allow free speech. 
 
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 4:15 p.m. 
 
 A state official said the driver of a car that plowed into a group of marchers in Charlottesville is in police custody. 
 
 Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran said the driver, a man, has been arrested. 
 
 Moran did not immediately provide a name of the driver. 
 
 Witnesses say a car plowed into a crowd of people who were protesting a rally, which was held by white nationalists who oppose the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee by the city of Charlottesville. Officials say one person was killed and at least 26 were treated at local hospitals. 
 
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 3:45 p.m. 
 
 A hospital official says one person has died and 19 were injured after a car plowed into a group of protesters in Charlottesville. 
 
 University of Virginia Medical Center spokeswoman Angela Taylor confirmed the death to The Associated Press. 
 
 The mayor of Charlottesville said via Twitter on Saturday that he is "heartbroken" to announce that a "life has been lost." He did not provide details. 
 
 Witnesses say a car plowed into a crowd of people who were protesting the rally, which was held by white nationalists who oppose the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee by the city of Charlottesville. 
 
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 3:20 p.m. 
 
 Officials say there are multiple injuries after a car plowed into a group of people marching peacefully in downtown Charlottesville. 
 
 Video of the incident shows a silver Dodge Charger crashing into a car where protesters were marching and then rapidly reversing away. 
 
 Michael Nigro, a photojournalist from Brooklyn, told reporters shortly after the incident he heard the screech of tires and saw a gray Charger accelerate toward the group. Several hundred people were peacefully marching through downtown. 
 
 Nigro says it was "chaos and mayhem" as bodies flew. 
 
 Officials didn't immediately release any further information and it wasn't immediately clear if anyone was in custody. 
 
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 2 p.m. 
 
 Authorities are on the scene after a vehicle plowed into a group of people marching peacefully through downtown Charlottesville. 
 
 An Associated Press reporter saw at least one person on the ground receiving medical treatment immediately afterward the incident. It occurred approximately two hours after violent clashes between white nationalists and counter-protesters. 
 
 The nationalists were holding the rally to protest plans by the city of Charlottesville to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. 
 
 There were several hundred protesters marching in a long line when the car drove into a group of them. 
 
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 1:40 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is tweeting about the violence that has erupted amid a white supremacist march in Virginia. 
 
 Trump tweeted Saturday that "we ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for." He then wrote "There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!" 
 
 The demonstrations began Friday in Charlottesville with white nationalists marching through town and while carrying lit torches. The demonstrators then clashed with counter-protesters. 
 
 Some of the white nationalists cited Trump's victory as validation for their beliefs. 
 
 The White House was silent for hours about the clashes except for a solitary tweet from First Lady Melania Trump. The president has received previous criticism for being slow to condemn acts of hate done in his name. 
 
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 1:35 p.m. 
 
 The organizer of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville is encouraging attendees to leave town after authorities declared an unlawful assembly and police ordered people to disperse. 
 
 Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler organized Saturday's rally to protest the city's decision to remove a statue of confederate General Robert E. Lee. 
 
 Kessler told The Associated Press Saturday that he and other people who were going to speak at the event evacuated with security when police issued the order to disperse. 
 
 He says he wants rally attendees to leave town peacefully. 
 
 Richard Spencer is a prominent alt-right activist who was scheduled to speak. He says he's also encouraging people to go home. 
 
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 12:50 p.m. 
 
 First Lady Melania Trump is calling for peace after violent clashes broke out at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. 
 
 Trump said Saturday on Twitter: "Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let's communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence." 
 
 Hundreds of white nationalists and counter protestors faced off Saturday in downtown Charlottesville, with several violent clashes erupting. 
 
 It's the latest confrontation in the city since it voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park. 
 
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 12:35 p.m. 
 
 The NHL's Detroit Red Wings released a statement denouncing the use of their logo at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and saying they are considering legal action to stop it. 
 
 The team says it "vehemently" disagrees with and is not associated with the event. The Red Wings add they are "exploring every possible legal action as it pertains to the misuse of our logo in this disturbing demonstration." 
 
 A Michigan-based white nationalist group called the Detroit Right Wings uses the Red Wings' logo. The organization posted on its Twitter account that members had arrived in Charlottesville. 
 
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 12:25 p.m. 
 
 Virginia's governor has declared a state of emergency in response to a white nationalist rally that is expected to draw up to 6,000 people. 
 
 Gov. Terry McAuliffe said via his Twitter account on Saturday morning that the declaration was made in order "to aid state response to violence" at the rally in Charlottesville, about 100 miles outside of Washington, D.C. 
 
 It's the latest confrontation in the city since it voted earlier this year to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park. 
 
 The city's manager also declared a local emergency and police ordered people to disperse from the area around the statue after several violent clashes broke out. 
 
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 Hundreds of people are facing off in Charlottesville ahead of a white nationalist rally planned in the Virginia city's downtown. 
 
 Rally supporters and counter-protesters screamed, chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday morning. 
 
 Men dressed in militia uniforms were carrying shields and openly carrying long guns. 
 
 Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler planned what he called a "pro-white" rally to protest Charlottesville's decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a city park. Thousands of people are expected to pack the area. 
 
 There were also fights Friday night, when hundreds of white nationalists marched through the University of Virginia campus carrying torches. 
 
 A university spokesman said one person was arrested and several people were injured. ||||| A vehicle reverses after driving into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. The nationalists were holding the rally to... (Associated Press) 
 
 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally Saturday in a Virginia college town, killing one person, hurting more than a dozen others and ratcheting up tension in a day full of violent confrontations. 
 
 Shortly after, a Virginia State Police helicopter that officials said was assisting with the rally crashed outside Charlottesville, killing the pilot and a trooper. 
 
 The chaos boiled over at what is believed to be the largest group of white nationalists to come together in a decade. The governor declared a state of emergency, and police dressed in riot gear ordered people out. The group had gathered to protest plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and others arrived to protest the racism. 
 
 Matt Korbon, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, said several hundred counter-protesters were marching when "suddenly there was just this tire screeching sound." A silver Dodge Challenger smashed into another car, then backed up, barreling through "a sea of people." 
 
 The impact hurled people into the air. Those left standing scattered, screaming and running for safety in different directions. 
 
 The driver was later identified by police as James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio. Police say Fields, 20, has been charged with charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene. A bond hearing is scheduled for Monday. 
 
 Field's mother, Samantha Bloom, told The Associated Press on Saturday night that she knew her son was attending a rally in Virginia but didn't know it was a white supremacist rally. 
 
 "I thought it had something to do with Trump. Trump's not a white supremacist," Bloom said. 
 
 "He had an African-American friend so ...," she said before her voice trailed off. She added that she'd be surprised if her son's views were that far right. 
 
 Bloom, who became visibly upset as she learned of the injuries and deaths at the rally, said she and her son had just moved to the Toledo area from the northern Kentucky city of Florence. She said that's where Fields grew up. She relocated to Ohio for work. 
 
 Late Saturday, the Department of Justice announced the opening of a federal civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the FBI's Richmond field office and Rick Mountcastle, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, will lead the investigation. 
 
 "The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice," Sessions said in a statement. "When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated." 
 
 The turbulence began Friday night, when the white nationalists carried torches though the University of Virginia campus. It quickly spiraled into violence Saturday morning. Hundreds of people threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays. At least three more men have been arrested in connection to the protests 
 
 The Virginia State Police announced late Saturday that Troy Dunigan, a 21-year-old from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, a 21-year-old from Louisa, Virginia, was charged with assault and battery; and James M. O'Brien, 44, of Gainesville, Florida, was charged with carrying a concealed handgun. 
 
 City officials said treated 35 patients altogether, 19 of whom were injured in the car crash. 
 
 State Police said in a statement that the helicopter was "assisting public safety resources with the ongoing situation" when it crashed in a wooded area. The pilot, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Virginia, and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, Virginia, died at the scene. 
 
 President Donald Trump condemned "in the strongest possible terms" what he called an "egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" after the clashes. He called for "a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives." 
 
 Trump said he had spoken with the governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, and "we agreed that the hate and the division must stop and must stop right now." 
 
 But some of the white nationalists cited Trump's victory as validation for their beliefs, and Trump's critics pointed to the president's racially tinged rhetoric as exploiting the nation's festering racial tension. 
 
 The Rev. Jesse Jackson noted that Trump for years publicly questioned President Barack Obama's citizenship. 
 
 "We are in a very dangerous place right now," he said. 
 
 Right-wing blogger Jason Kessler had called for what he termed a "pro-white" rally in Charlottesville, sparked by the monument decision. White nationalists and their opponents promoted the event for weeks. 
 
 Oren Segal, who directs the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said multiple white power groups gathered in Charlottesville, including members of neo-Nazi organizations, racist skinhead groups and Ku Klux Klan factions. 
 
 The white nationalist organizations Vanguard America and Identity Evropa; the Southern nationalist League of the South; the National Socialist Movement; the Traditionalist Workers Party; and the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights also were on hand, he said, along with several groups with a smaller presence. 
 
 On the other side, anti-fascist demonstrators also gathered in Charlottesville, but they generally aren't organized like white nationalist factions, said Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center. 
 
 Many others were just locals caught in the fray. 
 
 Colleen Cook, 26, stood on a curb shouting at the rally attendees to go home. 
 
 Cook, a teacher who attended the University of Virginia, said she sent her son, who is black, out of town for the weekend. 
 
 "This isn't how he should have to grow up," she said. 
 
 Cliff Erickson leaned against a fence and took in the scene. He said he thinks removing the statue amounts to erasing history and said the "counter-protesters are crazier than the alt-right." 
 
 "Both sides are hoping for a confrontation," he said. 
 
 It's the latest hostility in Charlottesville since the city about 100 miles outside of Washington, D.C., voted earlier this year to remove a statue of Lee. 
 
 In May, a torch-wielding group that included prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer gathered around the statue for a nighttime protest, and in July, about 50 members of a North Carolina-based KKK group traveled there for a rally, where they were met by hundreds of counter-protesters. 
 
 Kessler said this week that the rally is partly about the removal of Confederate symbols but also about free speech and "advocating for white people." 
 
 "This is about an anti-white climate within the Western world and the need for white people to have advocacy like other groups do," he said in an interview. 
 
 Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer said he was disgusted that the white nationalists had come to his town and blamed Trump for inflaming racial prejudices. 
 
 "I'm not going to make any bones about it. I place the blame for a lot of what you're seeing in American today right at the doorstep of the White House and the people around the president," he said. 
 
 Charlottesville, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is a liberal-leaning city that's home to the flagship UVA and Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 The statue's removal is part of a broader city effort to change the way Charlottesville's history of race is told in public spaces. The city has also renamed Lee Park, where the statue stands, and Jackson Park, named for Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. They're now called Emancipation Park and Justice Park, respectively. 
 
 For now, the Lee statue remains. A group called the Monument Fund filed a lawsuit arguing that removing the statue would violate a state law governing war memorials. A judge has agreed to temporarily block the city from removing the statue for six months. 
 
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 Associated Press writers Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, Heidi Brown in Charlottesville, Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky, and John Seewer in Maumee, Ohio, contributed to this report.
– US officials have opened a civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack that took place amid clashes of white nationalists and counter-demonstrators, reports the AP. The investigation was announced late Saturday by the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia and the FBI's Richmond field office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says US Attorney Rick Mountcastle has begun the investigation and will have the full support of the Justice Department. Sessions says, "The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice. When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated." In other developments: The man who allegedly plowed his car into a crowd of protesters, James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old from Ohio, was charged with second-degree murder and three counts of malicious wounding, reports NBC 29. Troy Dunigan, a 21-year-old from Chattanooga, Tenn., was charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, a 21-year-old from Louisa, Va., was charged with assault and battery; and James M. O'Brien, 44, of Gainesville, Fla., was charged with carrying a concealed handgun. White nationalist Richard Spencer accused police of endangering lives in how they handled the rally, saying he "did not attempt to engage in any kind of violence. So the idea that I could be held responsible is absurd. It's like blaming the fire department for a fire." Spencer also said he found President Trump's comments on the violence to be "rather vague and kind of lame." Fields' mother says he told her he was going to the rally and that she told him "to be careful" and peaceful. Rally organizer Jason Kessler said whoever drove a car into counter-protesters "did the wrong thing." He said he was saddened people were hurt and criticized law enforcement's response, saying they did a poor job controlling the chaos to allow free speech.