Top military brass slams racism after Charlottesville

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - In rare comments, the heads of America's military service branches are condemning racism in the wake of last weekend's violent white supremacist rally, with the heads of the Army and Air Force being the latest to weigh in Wednesday.

"I stand with my fellow service chiefs in saying we're always stronger together," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said on Twitter.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said minutes before that his service branch "doesn't tolerate racism, extremism or hatred in our ranks."

"It's against our Values and everything we've stood for since 1775," he said, also on Twitter.

They are the latest comments to directly rebut the hate rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that left one dead and nearly 20 injured when a car slammed into anti-racist counter-protesters.

On Saturday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson became the first to publicly condemn the events.

"Events in Charlottesville unacceptable & mustn’t be tolerated @USNavy forever stands against intolerance & hatred," Richardson said on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of the violence.

He was followed Tuesday by Marine Corps Commandant Robert B. Neller, who said on the microblogging site there is "no place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC".

"Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act," he said.

The unequivocal condemnations by America's military leaders stand in stark contrast to those of President Donald Trump, who has cast blame on all sides, appearing to give a boost to the hate groups.

He said there were "some very fine people" among the white supremacists who rallied in Virginia.

“You had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest,” he said during a chaotic news conference at Trump Tower in New York.

Many of the white supremacists/nationalists and neo-Nazis could be heard chanting anti-Semitic, anti-gay and anti-minority slogans during the Friday to Saturday rally in Virginia while prominently displaying swastikas, confederate symbols and pro-Trump paraphernalia.

Trump's comments were lauded by former KKK Imperial Wizard David Duke, who thanked Trump on Twitter for his "honesty & courage to tell the truth.”