Following an outbreak of violence on the weekend at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that left one woman dead, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reminding Canadians that Canada is not immune to racist violence.
In a tweet Sunday afternoon, Trudeau condemned the violence in Charlottesville and offered Canada’s support.
“We know Canada isn’t immune to racist violence & hate. We condemn it in all its forms & send support to the victims in Charlottesville,” he wrote.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also spoke out against the violence in the United States, saying, “Hate knows no borders and we must stand on guard against its spread.”
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley described the events in Charlottesville as “despicable” and said she was proud of Albertans who work to end racism.
Charlottesville descended into violence Saturday, when neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists gathered to “take America back,” and clashed with others who came to protest the rally.
The violence culminated when a man allegedly plowed his car into the group of counter-protesters, killing one woman and wounding 19 others. The suspect, a 20-year-old Ohio man with a history of interest in Nazism, has been charged with second-degree murder and several other offences.
Two Virginia police troopers who had been deployed to respond to the violence were also killed when the helicopter in which they were riding in crashed into a forest.