Man with Confederate flag, AR-15 comes to Charlottesville to 'honor' Robert E. Lee
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (ABC7) — A man carrying a Confederate flag, an AR-15 rifle and wearing what looked like Civil War era clothing was found standing in front of the Robert E. Lee statute in Charlottesville Tuesday, drawing strong reaction from those around him.
"Racist go home, racist go home," a woman said to him.
Allen Armentrout says he made the trip up from his home in North Carolina to honor Lee, a man he calls "the greatest American that ever lived."
Armentrout stood with his flag and gun in front of the statue, which was at the center of Saturday's white nationalist rally that left left a woman and two members of the Virginia State Police dead and more than 30 people injured.
A number of people gathered around Armentrout and demanded that he leave.
"Your people have killed us," a man told Armentrout.. "You tore up our town. You ruined business. Get out. This statue is coming down. Get over it."
"Terrorist go home!" some of them shouted.
Armentrout says he is not a supporter of the alt-right movement or the violence that took place during the "Unite the Right" rally.
"The Lord says we should love everybody," he said.
"I don't view myself as the alternate right or any kind of racist organization," he told Charlottesville resident Peter Norton.
Protesters continued to yell at Armentrout and police were brought in. Charlottesville Police eventually escorted him from the park.
