200 attend Montreal solidarity rally against white nationalists in Charlottesville

In Montreal, around 200 people protested against the Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan sympathizers who planned to stage one of the largest supremacist rallies in recent U.S. history in Charlottesville, VA.

Over the weekend, the events in Virginia led to violent clashes between white nationalists and civil rights activists.

• Heather Heyer a 'strong' woman who was 'all about equality'
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Montreal is one of many cities around the world where solidarity rallies are taking place.

"It's important that Montreal adds its voice," said activist Jaggi Singh.

The protesters gathered around 7 p.m. at Square Phillips and marched down to the U.S. consulate.

Many people held signs and some held photos of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman killed on Saturday after she was rammed by a car amid the protests.

Heyer was a civil rights activist, in attendance to counterprotest the white nationalists who converged on the Virginia college town to demand the city keep a statue honouring a Confederate war hero. 

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been arrested in the attack.

"We're here to denounce the extreme right and racism," said Singh. "We have to take this threat seriously. [Heyer] took to the streets in a courageous way with thousands of other people."

One of the largest banners at Montreal's solidarity march paid tribute to Heyer.

"If you are not outraged, then you are not paying attention," it read, echoing the last post Heyer made on her Facebook page prior to her death.