GOP lawmaker: Russian meddling stirred racial divisions at fatal Charlottesville rally

Deirdre Shesgreen | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – A Republican congressman from Virginia said Russian agents were involved in fomenting the deadly racial divisions on display last year at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In an interview with CNN, Rep. Tom Garrett Jr., R-Va., said FBI officials told him in a briefing two months ago that Russia played a role in stoking the racial clashes at that "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville.

“The Russian intermeddling is seeking to pit Americans against Americans, to undermine confidence in Western-style democracies,” Garrett told CNN. “They use events like this divisive racial fight, which really ignores the commonality that we as Americans have with one another regardless of our race or ethnicity or religion.”

American intelligence agencies have concluded that Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election, trying to sway the results in favor of President Donald Trump. But Garrett said this is the first time he has revealed the Russians’ involvement in the white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville.

Garrett's remarks came on the one year anniversary of that rally, which led to several deaths when Neo-Nazi sympathizers and counterprotesters clashed during protests. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old legal assistant, was struck and killed when a white supremacist slammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. And two Virginia state troopers died when their surveillance helicopter crashed near the protests.

This weekend white nationalists are again planning to rally – this year outside the president's home in Washington, D.C.

More: Charlottesville ramps up security ahead of 2018 Unite the Right rally

More: Trump condemns 'all types of racism' on Charlottesville anniversary; critics slam wording

More: One year after Charlottesville tragedy, Heather Heyer's mom talks about daughter's death

This year's "Unite the Right" rally is scheduled for Sunday in Lafayette Park, just across from the White House. A large counterprotest is also scheduled.

Garrett suggested that such events play into the hands of the Russians by spotlighting and deepening tensions among Americans.

“What they’re trying to do is make the world safe for kleptocrats and oligarchs and dictators like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Garrett said. “That’s what scares me most—that Americans will be pitted against Americans over real differences but that are minimal in the grand scheme of things.”

VIDEO: On @CNN @RepTomGarrett says the FBI Director told him directly in a briefing two months ago that Russian inter meddling had to do with fanning the flames in Charlottesville. pic.twitter.com/rorpfeWA95 — Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 11, 2018

Contributing: Christal Hayes