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Mykal McEldowney, Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar Matt Heimbach, a white nationalist who calls Indiana home, makes his way into Emancipation Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville on Saturday, August 12, 2017.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Matthew Heimbach, an Indiana resident who has risen to prominence in the white nationalist movement, and is a supporter of Trump, he claims Trump is a supporter of the white nationalist movement, and that the white nationalist ideals are the same as Trumps 'Make America Great Again' movement. Heimbach approached the epicenter of Saturday's rally here wearing a black combat helmet and with a bodyguard close on his heels.
But as he entered the intersection just outside Emancipation Park, Heimbach and members of his Traditionalist Workers Party were met by counter protesters who had formed a blockade. A melee ensued, with people being flung to the ground in what was the first in a series of violent episodes that turned a graceful college town into a battleground. Later, when a car plowed into a crowd of people, at least killing one person and injuring 19 others, the casualties were all too real.
Heimbach ordered his followers to push down the metal police barricades that cut the park into separate zones. Within minutes, state troopers stepped in with their order to end the gathering. It's unclear if the actions were connected.
Heimbach, like many of those rallying alongside him Saturday, sees white identity, culture and religion as increasingly endangered by a diversifying America.
The dark aspects of Heimbach's ideology aren't limited to race. He and others in his fold are quick to blame their woes on the Jewish power structure. They're apt to speak fondly of Adolph Hitler, deny the Holocaust and appreciate the leadership of strong nationalists worldwide, from Russia's Putin to Syria's Assad. He and others speak in reverent terms of David Duke, the former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who made a rally appearance Saturday.
