McMaster calls Charlottesville attack terror

National security advisor H.R. McMaster on Sunday said the car attack at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. was terrorism.

“I certainly think any time that you commit an attack against people to incite fear, it is terrorism.  It meets the definition of terrorism,” McMaster told ABC’s “This Week.”

McMaster’s comments come one day after a vehicle mowed down a group of counter-protesters at the white supremacist rally, leaving one person dead and multiple others injured.

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the car attack, and federal officials have opened a civil rights investigation.

{mosads}McMaster on Sunday called for the United States to “extinguish in our nation” the “hatred and bigotry” on display in Virginia. 

“We have to do that by asking ourselves what are we teaching our children around the dinner table.  What are we teaching our children in school?” he asked. 

“We ought to be teaching them about what makes America exceptional, and that’s our commitment to the rights of every individual, liberty, freedom, respect for each other regardless of race, religion, and so forth.”

President Trump received criticism following his statement after the attack when he condemned hatred and bigotry but put the blame on “many sides.”