A Charlottesville rally counter-protester claims he was pelted with bottles, maced with pepper spray and brutally bashed by white supremacists in a car park next to the city police station.
“I was chased and beat with metal poles. I was knocked unconscious repeatedly. Every time I went to stand up I was knocked back down,” DeAndre Harris, 21, wrote in an online plea for help with his medical bills.
The Virginia man told AP that police allegedly failed to come to his aid as the violent protest unfolded.
US Police have confirmed they’re investigating the violence in Charlottesville, however no arrests have been made in relation to the alleged attack on Mr Harris at this stage.
Hundreds of white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and others converged on Charlottesville on Saturday (local time). The protest led to three deaths.
One woman was killed after a car ploughed into a group of counter-protesters and two troopers were killed in a helicopter crash while patrolling the area.
Mr Harris told CNN he is alive thanks to a kind stranger, only known as ‘Karen’.
"I got hit in the head and I had to get eight staples in my head to seal it back up. I broke my wrist right here. I busted my lip. I chipped my tooth,” he said.
"She talked to me and kept me calm and really kept me awake. I was fading and she woke me up. I was losing so much blood, the people at the hospital told me I was lucky."
Photos and video of a black man being bashed by protesters have since gone viral after being shared by journalist Chuck Modi and photographer Zach Roberts.
WARNING: FOOTAGE IN BELOW TWEET CONTAINS DISTRESSING FOOTAGE
Photographer Zach Roberts told AP he went to police immediately after he witnessed the attack.
He claimed officers were not interested at the time.
Police have set up a hotline for people to report alleged crimes that occurred at the rally.
At a press conference, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said police received more than 250 calls relating to the rally.
