“On behalf of the near 1.7 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Auxiliary, we extend our deepest condolences to the families of Heather Heyer, Virginia State Police Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates, and almost two dozen others who were injured Saturday when white nationalists clashed with counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va. There is no reason or excuse great enough to justify violence against others just because you disagree with their ideology, backgrounds, religious beliefs or ethnicities. Individuals and organizations who wave Nazi flags, and who use the First Amendment as both shield and sword, must be rooted out of our society and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for fueling hate. There is no place in any civilized society for their ilk.” — VFW National Commander Keith Harman