Charlottesville victim’s mother thanks Trump for ‘denouncing those who promote violence’

The mother of the woman killed at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., thanked President Trump on Monday after he spoke out against hate groups for their role in the weekend’s violence.

“Thank you, President Trump, for those words of comfort and for denouncing those who promote violence and hatred,” Susan Bro said in a statement, according to NBC News.

“My condolences, also, to the grieving families of the two state troopers and quick recovering for those injured,” she added

Susan Bro, mother of Charlottesville attack victim Heather Heyer, thanks Pres. Trump for “denouncing those who promote violence and hatred” pic.twitter.com/E46OnwE5fW

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 14, 2017

{mosads}White supremacist groups joined in Charlottesville this weekend for a “Unite the Right” rally and to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. On Saturday, a man with ties to white supremacist groups drove into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters, killing Bro’s daughter, Heather Heyer, and injuring many others.

Trump initially blamed the violence on “many sides” in remarks Saturday. But that response sparked a firestorm of controversy, and the president on Monday specifically called out hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis for their role in the weekend’s violence in Charlottesville.

“Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to what we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said in a surprise statement from the Diplomatic Reception Room.

On Monday, the president also spoke about Heyer, saying, “Her death fills us with grief, and we send her and her family our thoughts, our prayers and our love.”