Lady Gaga, Pete Wentz, Zendaya and More Speak Out Against White Supremacist Rally
Celebrities like Lady Gaga, Chris Evans (a.k.a. Captain America), Pete Wentz, Zendaya and more tweeted their horror about the ongoing events in Charlottesville, Virginia today (August 12).
On Saturday, white supremacists (also calling themselves the "alt-right" and "white nationalists") gathered for a "Unite the Right" rally in Emancipation Park to protest the removal of a statue honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The gathering came hours after a large group of white supremacists carrying tiki torches marched to the University of Virginia on Friday night (August 11) and incited a brawl, The New York Times reports.
The group—comprised of some participants carrying tokens of Nazism, including swastikas and t-shirts featuring quotes by Adolf Hitler—was met with resistance by counter-protestors. A state of emergency was declared by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who told right-wing supporters to "go home... You are not wanted in this great commonwealth," according to CNN.
Later in the afternoon, a vehicle plowed into a group of anti-hate protestors, injuring many and killing one 32-year-old woman before speeding away, backwards. The driver, 20-year-old James Fields, has since been taken into custody, NBC reports.
On Twitter, countless celebrities condemned the violence incited by right-wing protestors. Many also spoke out criticizing Donald Trump's vague tweets about the brutality and bigotry in Charlottesville, as well as his omission of any mention of white supremacy in his speech.
"The news makes me sick and so do racists in suits who dance around the fact that NAZIS are parading [through] the streets in broad daylight," Paramore front woman Hayley Williams tweeted, while Gaga wrote, "I pray a true leader will rise to expel hatred from America."
See more reactions from celebrities across social media, below:
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