Quick Summary of Charlottesville Rally on 11-Aug-2017 and the events that followed

• Charlottesville, VA decides they're going to take down a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate monument (I'm genuinely curious if there are many other countries where the losing side of a conflict have so many memorials to "protect heritage")
• A white supremacist organizes a "Unite the Right" rally.  Let's pause for a moment.  This is someone claiming to speak for the right wing of the country and saying that his position is one that the rest of the right wing should rally around... that position being white supremacy.  I haven't seen many right wing people concerned about this.  Alright, let's go on.
• The city of Charlottesville votes to revoke the rally permit.  
• The permit is reinstated by a federal court the week before the planned date for the rally.
• The rally begins and there are images and tapes of white supremacists, carrying torches ... tiki torches, but torches all the same, performing the nazi solute, and chanting things such as "Jews will not replace us."  During the rally, David Duke (former head of the KKK) says "This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That's what we believed in. That's why we voted for Donald Trump - because he said he's going to take our country back."  O.k., that gives you some idea as to what the rally was really about... not just "protecting heritage" but rather about stating that the racists are back and willing to be way out in the open. 
• There is a counter-rally with people shouting offensive things at the white supremacists.... though to my mind, you don't really consider a match to be a flame when someone is holding a blow-torch nearby.... none-the-less, there is a reason I mention it.
• After the rally, the groups collide and violence ensues.
• James Alex Fields Jr drives his car into the counter-rally goers, killing 1 and injuring 19 others.  He later explained his actions as being his response to people abusing his car.... This is a scenario similar to stand your ground, I imagine, where if you feel endangered, you can commit murder without expecting repercussions.
• President Trump responds 
• At first by saying that there was a lot of hatred "on all sides"... here's where we come back to the counter-rally folk holding up their matches when others are holding up literal torches.
• He comes back on Monday, after many calls for him to be more vocal about denouncing racists and does exactly that... he denounces racist groups... "Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,"  Read that carefully because he doesn't actually walk back what he said previously.  He leaves the door open for many of his supporters to consider the counter-protesters to be members of hate groups.  Many believe Black Lives Matter, for instance, to be a hate group, even though the group is about trying to raise awareness of the violence toward blacks and the inequity and racism that still exists in our country.  This is like suggesting that someone calling attention to a house that's on fire is doing so in an attempt to light other houses on fire.
• On Tuesday, President Trump returns to the reporters to talk about infrastructure and, as you might expect, gets more questions about Charlottesville and his responses.  He states again that there is blame to be found on both sides and starts equating General Lee to President Washington, asking that since Washington had slaves, should we be taking down his monuments.  This is commonly referred to what-aboutism, where people respond to a question with "what about this other thing?"  The other thing tends to either not be nearly as problematic as the original element in question or tends to be on a completely different topic.  Furthermore...
• Lee's monuments were put up nearly half  a century after the end of the Civil War and were there to justify Jim Crow laws.
• Lee's monuments are in remembrance of Lee's actions in the Civil War, standing up against the big bad United States of America (and the rights of states to allow slavery), in contrast to monuments to Washington which are in remembrance of his support and leadership of the United States of America (with no direction within this rememberance, one way or another, regarding slavery)... subtle difference there, right?
• Free Speech rallies are planned in 23 states.  One of the first to be held is in Boston, MA.  The Boston event showcases rally goers in the 10's and counter-rally goers in the 10,000's (estimates put the counter-rally protest at between 30,000 and 40,000 people).  Police arrest 30 of the counter-protesters for violence... remember, that's out of 30,000 people who attended.  The rest of the rallies are replaced with online gatherings rather than in person rallies.