Page 43 - Counterprotesters News Today

Four stactues immediately. but during the presidents defensive news conference where he blamed both the white nationalist and the counterprotesters, the president made another startling comparison between confederate generals and the founding fathers of the united states. >> many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of robert e. lee, so this week its robert e. lee. i noticed that stonewall jacksons coming down. i wonder, is it george washington next week and is it ...

Ive condemned many different groups. but not all of those people were neo-nazis. believe me. not all of those people were white supremacists. >> so, thats president trump there parsing the people who attended the white nationalist rally in charlottesville over the weekend describing some of the counterprotesters before that is what he described as what he heard him call the alt-left. in these remarks, what did the president get right and wrong. to share it with us im joined by tom costollo who i...

Counterprotesters in the same category as the white supremacists? are you putting what you call the alt-left and white supremacists on the same moral plane? >> im not putting anybody on a moral plane. what im saying is this. you had a group on one side, and you had a group on the other, and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible, and it was a horrible thing to watch, but there is another side. there was a group on this side. you can call them the left. you have...

>> first of all, i didnt think what he said saturday was wrong. i think what he said saturday was appropriate. i think what he said saturday denounced hatred, bigotry, and violence which was appropriate. it was the appropriate response that he gave. and it was similar to the appropriate response that president obama gave after the white supremacists clearly bigoted dylann roof shot up the people in charleston. so when he reverted back to that i thought it was appropriate. the thing -- >> doesnt,...

16th. a difficult day in this country for some. we begin with president trump at a stunning news conference, the president making a dramatic pivot in charlottesville reverting back to his original vague response to saturday blaming both sides for the unrest equating white supremacists with counterprotesters. >> during a combative exchange with reporters there in the trump tower lobby, the president says those protesters were also the aggressors. when asked if he was putting them on the same mora...

They have to go back to their home states and ten and then organize t organize. joining me now, reverend tracy of justice and witness ministries. she was one of the counterprotesters in charlottesville. shaw for joining me, reverend blackman. we spoke first friday night when you were inside of a church on the grounds in the university of virginia. donald trump said the night before the saturday melee, there were good people who were quietly marching in charlottesville. and he was talking about...

Spokesperson of the sons of confederate veterans. so i spoke too these anti-monument protesters, some who are here for a third consecutive night. this is what one of them told me he thinks of the people that want to preserve this monument, especially those who are supportive of the president. lets listen. >> if you are supposed to be american and patriotic and make america great again and all that crap, those monuments are celebrating people who were trarts to america, so even if you are one of ...

>> reporter: craig, i was here last night when these anti monument protesters surrounded the statue of jefferson davis mi behind me. you mentioned some were spitting at the statue. i do have to note, others were protesting peacefully, some even brought their children and families. i just got off the phone with these anti monument protesters from last night, and they tell me they were encouraged by what they saw in baltimore overnight. the removal of this -- of these confederate monuments in balt...

Counterprotesters. >> if you do not disperse immediately, you will be arrested. >> what about the alt-left? what about the fact they came charging -- that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs. >> reporter: in fact thats true. witnesses tell nbc news there were people on both sides who seemed ready for a fight, and some counterprotesters were armed with clubs, some with pepper spray. >> they maced me. >> who? >> i dont know. communists. >> reporter: but who is to blame for...

The lead from president trumps blame of both sides. >> what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, at the alt-right. do they have any semblance of guilt? let me ask you this, what about the fact that they came charging, that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs. do they have any problem? i think they do. >> hes posing the question. lets answer it for you. there were some instances of those counterprotesters that engaged in skirmishes. but lets be clear,...