How Charlottesville Is Uniting Against Prejudice After a White Supremacist Protest

Whether they're described as the alt-right or simply as white nationalists, their intolerant ideology remains the same. On May 14, a group of white nationalist demonstrators gathered at the University of Virginia's Lee Park to protest the removal of a Confederate statue honoring Robert E. Lee. According to local Charlottesville newspaper, The Daily Progress, a few dozen protesters carrying torches and repeating chants of "blood and soil" gathered on the lawn Sunday night.

In addition to revealing their apparent prejudices, the protesters also pledged allegiance to an unexpected country: "Russia is our friend," the torch-wielding demonstrators reportedly chanted.

Following an onslaught of concern expressed across social media, members of the community, including the mayor, attempted to diminish the incident as unrepresentative of the town's values. "We're a city that proudly values our diversity," Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said in an interview with ABC News.

A separate statement released by the Charlottesville Police Department estimated the number of demonstrators to be between 100 and 150 people "carrying tiki-style torches." Richard Spencer, one of the most recognized leaders of the self-described alt-right, was also reportedly present; he tweeted a picture of himself Sunday night with a torch. Signer engaged with Spencer on Twitter about the demonstration.

Signer has vocally condemned the protest against removing Lee's statute in the media and on social media. "The event involving torches at night in Lee Park was either profoundly ignorant or was designed to instill fear in our minority populations in a way that hearkens back to the days of the KKK," Signer said in an official statement. "Either way, as mayor of this City, I want everyone to know this: we reject this intimidation. We are a Welcoming City, but such intolerance is not welcome here."

It's also worth noting that Signer, who teaches politics at the university, coincidentally penned a book on demagogues.