On the day of the rally, many people stayed away. Those who came to the rally saw demonstrators with weapons and white nationalists with Nazi and KKK symbols. In the late morning, the local government declared a state of emergency and tried to stop the rally, but no one left. Instead they moved to other streets in the downtown area. The Virginia National Guard came to help the local police, but none of them seemed to know what to do. Some of the white nationalists, including Christopher Cantwell and former KKK grand wizard David Duke, spoke to reporters.