ALT-RIGHT

Richard Spencer Leads March Defending Confederate Statue

Protesters were raising torches.

Alt-right figurehead and white nationalist Richard Spencer led a protest on Saturday in support of a Confederate monument of Robert E. Lee in Virginia. The protesters were wielding torches and chanting, “You will not replace us,” “Russia is our friend,” and “Blood and soil.” After police were called to the scene to break up a fight, officials say the crowd dispersed and there were no further altercations. The city of Charlottesville has received criticism over its decision to sell the statue of the Confederate general. In a statement, Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said the protest 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.”