Washington - Mourners gathered at a theatre in Charlottesville,
Virginia, on Wednesday to remember the life of a woman killed when a
man drove his car into a crowd demonstrating against a white
supremacist rally at the weekend.
Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old legal assistant, was among the
counter-demonstrators who had gathered to protest a rally that had
drawn white supremacists, neo-Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan
to the university town some 200 kilometres south-west of Washington.
Heyer was praised for her commitment to social justice and love of
life, the local Daily Progress newspaper reported from the service at
which mourners were asked to wear purple, her favourite colour.
US President Donald Trump has been criticized for his response to the
attack and rally by blaming violence on "both sides," rather than
focusing on the rally's far-right organizers.
He has however praised Heyer and thanked her mother for welcoming a
statement by him on Monday at which he denounced white supremacists.
He later fell back on earlier statements that pointed to violence
from the counterdemonstrators as well.
"Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a
truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all!" Trump
wrote on Twitter.
Nineteen others were injured on Saturday when a suspected white
supremacist ploughed a car into a group of counterprotesters.
The man suspected of driving the car, James Alex Fields Jr of Ohio,
20, has been charged with second degree murder and other crimes and
was denied bail at a court hearing on Monday.