Twitter vigilantes 'name and shame' white nationalists at deadly Virginia neo-Nazi rally

Twitter vigilantes 'name and shame' marchers at deadly neo-Nazi rally

A vigilante Twitter account has called on the public to help “name and shame” people photographed waving torches at a neo-Nazi rally in Virginia where a woman was killed.

One white nationalist lost his job after being identified on social media, and labelled a “racist” for attending the alt-right rally in the Southern college town of Charlottesville.

Nineteen others were injured, five critically, when a man ploughed a car into a crowd of people protesting the rally.

Another 15 people were injured in bloody street brawls between white nationalists and counter-demonstrators who fought each other with fists, rocks and pepper spray.

During the riot, James Alex Fields Jr, described by a former high school teacher as having been "infatuated" with Nazi ideology as a teenager, allegedly drove into a crowd, killing Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 19 others.

Two Virginia state police officers died in the crash of their helicopter after assisting in efforts to quell the unrest.

In the aftermath, Twitter vigilantes called on the public to identify people photographed waving torches at the rally, and aligning themselves with violent far-right extremists including neo-Nazi groups and the Ku Klux Klan.

One of those identified was Californian Cole White, who has since lost his job at Berkeley's Top Dog restaurant following the tweet.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention… We feel it is imperative for you to know that Cole White is no longer employed by Top Dog, LCC,” a company spokesperson told reporters.

Other social media users used Twitter to share photos from the event to try and identify the extremists.

History and political science student Peter Cvjetanovic, of Reno, has defended accusations being being a “racist” after he was photographed marching as part of the rally and dubbed the “angry torch guy”.

The 21-year-old told local media he was merely concerned about the protection of white culture.

“As a white nationalist, I care for all people. We all deserve a future for our children and for our culture. White nationalists aren’t all hateful; we just want to preserve what we have,” he told Channel 2 News.

“I came to this march for the message that white European culture has a right to be here just like every other culture,” Mr Cvjetanovic said.

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Democrats and Republicans criticised Donald Trump for waiting too long to address the violence and for failing when he did speak out to explicitly condemn white-supremacist marchers who ignited the melee.

The president, who has a substantial far-right following, on Saturday initially denounced what he called "this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides."

On Sunday, however, the White House added the president’s remarks were meant to include white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups.