Remembering Charlottesville's Deadly 'Unite The Right' Rally [PHOTOS]

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

It’s been five years since racism and white supremacy took center stage in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the “Unite The Right” rally ended in violence and death but much hasn’t changed. America still has a white nationalist problem and it only seems to be getting worse.

On August 12,  alt-right, neo-Nazi, and far-right militia hate groups traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue which stood in the city for almost a century.

The white nationalist protest was met by counter-protestors who opposed the rallies’ racist intentions.  The incident turned extremely violent, prompting Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe to declare a state of emergency, but by then it was too late. 

Self-identified white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a sea of protestors, killing Heather Heyer and injuring more than 30 others. 

Fields was arrested, charged, and eventually convicted in 2018 of first-degree murder, malicious wounding, as well as other crimes. He also pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes in order to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus 419 years.

With so much tragedy coming from the “Unite The Right” rally in 2017 you would think folks would have learned a lesson about how deadly hate can be, but I guess that was wishful thinking. Since Charlottesville, racist white supremacists have been emboldened and the attacks have only worsened. 

According to VOA, there was a double-digit spike in hate crimes last year, and those numbers are continuing to rise in 2022. 

In May, 18-year-old Payton Gendron drove hours from his hometown in upstate New York before using an assault rifle to kill 10 Black people and injuring several others in a Buffalo supermarket. His motive was ‘the great replacement theory,’ an ideology many of the racist Charlottesville protestors also subscribed to. 

Sometimes you have to look to the past to see where you are headed. Charlottesville is a reminder that the fight to rid this country of its racist ways is far from over.

Check out some of the photos from the deadly Charlottesville riot below and never forget the pain from that day. Never forget the loss of innocent life.

1. Unite the Right protest

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: Clashes at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

2. Unite the Right rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: Clashes between white supremacist groups and counter protestors during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2017. 

3. Photos from a KKK rally in Charlottesville, VA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – AUGUST 12: Protesters and counter-protesters clash during a Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

4. Unite the Right rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: Black Lives Matter counter protestors at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2017. 

5. Men are seen sitting on the ground during the State of Emergency.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: A member of the white supremacist and a protester are seen fighting. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

6. Men are seen sitting on the ground during the State of Emergency.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: Men are seen sitting on the ground during the State of Emergency. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

7. A young woman is surrounded by the rescue team.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: A young woman is surrounded by the rescue team, she appears to be injured. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

8. A white supremacist man is seen holding a long pipe.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: A white supremacist man is seen holding a long pipe during the State of Emergency. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

9. A woman appears to be injured during the State of Emergency.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: A woman appears to be injured during the State of Emergency. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

10. A member of the white supremacist and a protester are seen fighting.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: A member of the white supremacist and a protester are seen fighting. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

11. Army forces are seen on guard during the State of Emergency.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES – 2017/08/12: Army forces are seen on guard during the State of Emergency. White supremacists gathered at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally. Virginia’s Governor McAuliffe declared a State of Emergency as violence erupted before the rally could begin between counter protesters and white supremacists around Emancipation Park. Later in the afternoon White supremacists James Alexander Fields Jr. drove his silver dodge charger into a crowd of counter protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring multiple others. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) 

12. Photos from a KKK rally in Charlottesville, VA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – AUGUST 12: A medic assists a woman who was hit with pepper spray at the Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

13. Photos from a KKK rally in Charlottesville, VA

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – AUGUST 12: Protesters and counter-protesters clash during a Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Calla Kessler/The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

14. Torch march of white nationalists

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: A group calling themselves The Militia, arrive to “keep the peace” outside the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville,Virginia, August 12, 2017.(Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

15. Torch march of white nationalists

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: White supremacist groups and counter protestors argue while a member of “The Militia” keeps the peace outside the Unite the Right rally August 12, 2017. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

16. Unite the Right rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: Tensions between white supremacists and counter protestors at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

17. Torch march of white nationalists

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: White supremacists in Emancipation Park prior to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville,Virginia, August 12, 2017.(Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

18. Torch march of white nationalists

CHARLOTTESVILLE,VA-AUG12: White supremacist groups rally in Emancipation Park during the Unite the Right Rally, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) 

19. Memorial for Heather Heyer who was killed.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – August 18:  Memorial for Heather Heyer who was killed. On August 12, 2017, a car was deliberately driven into a crowd of people who had been peacefully protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one and injuring 28. The driver of the car, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., had driven from Ohio to attend the rally. Fields previously espoused neo-Nazi and white supremacist beliefs. He was convicted in a state court of hit and run, the first-degree murder of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, and eight counts of malicious wounding, and sentenced to life in prison with an additional 419 years in July 2019. He also pled guilty to 29 of 30 federal hate crime charges to avoid the death penalty, which also resulted in another life sentence handed down in June 2019. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)

20. Bill Tompkins Heather Heyer Archive

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – August 18: Memorial for Heather Heyer who was killed. On August 12, 2017, a car was deliberately driven into a crowd of people who had been peacefully protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one and injuring 28. The driver of the car, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., had driven from Ohio to attend the rally. Fields previously espoused neo-Nazi and white supremacist beliefs. He was convicted in a state court of hit and run, the first-degree murder of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, and eight counts of malicious wounding, and sentenced to life in prison with an additional 419 years in July 2019. He also pled guilty to 29 of 30 federal hate crime charges to avoid the death penalty, which also resulted in another life sentence handed down in June 2019.” The Mayor of Charlottesville, the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety, the Attorney General and the FBI director called the attack an act of domestic terrorism.on August 18, 2017 in Charlottesville. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images) 

21. Charlottesville Holds Town Hall To Update Community On City's Recovery Efforts In Wake Of Death After Alt Right Rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – AUGUST 27: The statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson that stands in the center of Justice Park is shrouded in black plastic August 27, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The city council decided to drape the Jackson statue and another one of Gen. Robert E. Lee in black as a memorial to resident Heather Heyer who was killed while protesting August 12 against the “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)