counterprotest saying that america should not be celebrating or protecting the statue of a supremacist, who was a general in an army to overthrow the government. we re going to continue to watch the situation in seattle as it continues to develop there. but i want to turn more to charlottesville and what s taken place there the last couple of days. attorney jeff sessions saying we are going to launch a federal civil rights investigation into what took place in charlottesville, virginia. is that enough? is that going far enough? and then what? well, i think that it s i think sessions has said something that we haven t even heard the president say. is that enough? no. i think that we need to see a real aggressive move by the justice department to deal with the elements of this group that has clearly begun organizing around the country. when you see these seemingly organized way you had several cars involved in what ended up
african-americans, lgbt groups, muslims, women. it is the words and the actions. and it is also steve bannon, a person who himself has said that he is providing a platform for the alt-right. it is his selection of steve bannon as a key advisor in the white house that has emboldened white supremacists across our country. they know they have a friend in the white house. they know they have an attorney general who did not support the hate crimes prevention bill. and it is this toxic combination ever both racially charged rhetoric and actions that have made clear that minority communities don t have a place in our society right now that led to the tragic events yesterday in charlottesville.
set up that demonstrate here about an hour ago in a square, in a park. they ve been holding in place probably about two blocks away from our location. but behind me you can see the police presence. you can see police in full riot gear, police with batons, police have at one point pushed this crowd back. they ve had to disperse the crowd once i believe with an agent that would disperse the crowd. i believe that was teargas that we felt live on television as we were trying to sort of get inside the crowd. counterprotesters are angry for one reason they want to get at those pro-trump supporters. they want to get at those white nationalist supporters in that square and they ve been unable to. this march started about 1:30. it s been marching through the streets of seattle. at every point along the way it s tried to turn to where those pro-trump supporters were, to where those white nationalists were stationed. but along the way they ve been
beyond just getting their voice heard. and so that s what we see today, just a basic police posturing that is very strong, that represents in riot gear, and that appears to be pretty forceful if you try to push into them. so far we ve seen at least one arrest in this crowd. i would imagine there have been a few more because of how sizable this crowd is, how loud they are, and how passionately they want to push through at this point. steve, stand by for us. as i mentioned, joining me in this hour, the host of msnbc s politics nation, the reverend al sharpton. you ve been watching this. considering what took place in charlottesville, now seeing this in seattle, give me your reaction so far. well, i think that what is really disturbing is that you re seeing this kind of new boldness from white supremacist groups. i mean we are saying white nationalists, but they are white supremacists, and they say that.
come to new york today but he did change his schedule yesterday not because of anything that had taken place in s charlottesville, virginia. from what we understand he is heading to trump tower later tomorrow evening. as you see a peaceful protest happening outside of trump tower just a couple of blocks from where we are right now. turning back to events that have taken place. america s racial divide back in focus with many asking how did we get here. let s bring back reverend al sharpton. and david corn. welcome. i want to start with you. some images we have been seeing sort of echoes the past, the civil rights movement, as well. when it comes to race relations