Charlottesville covers Confederate statues with black shroud

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Workers in Charlottesville draped giant black covers over two statues of Confederate generals Wednesday to symbolize the city's mourning for a woman killed while protesting a white-nationalist rally.

The work began about 1 p.m. in Emancipation Park, where a towering monument of Gen. Robert E. Lee on horseback stands. Workers gathered around the monument with a large black drape.

Some stood in cherry-pickers, and others used ropes and poles to cover the statue as onlookers took photos and video.

Some of the crowd cheered as the cover was put in place.

The city council voted to shroud the statues early Tuesday, at the end of an hourslong meeting packed with irate residents who screamed and cursed at councilors over the city's response to the Aug. 12 rally. The event, dubbed "Unite the Right," is believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade.

Neo-Nazis, KKK members, skinheads and members of various white-nationalist factions clashed violently with counterprotesters in the street adjacent to Emancipation Park.

The fighting went on largely uninterrupted by authorities until the event was declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd was forced to disperse.

Later, a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators who were marching through downtown, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring more than two dozen others.