Poll: Voters Split on Who to Blame for Charlottesville Violence

Virginia voters are divided over who is responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last week, according to a new poll from MassINC Polling Group. 

• 40 percent blame the white nationalist marchers.
• 6 percent blame the counter-protesters.
• 41 percent blame both equally.
• 13 percent don't know or refused to answer.

Republicans were the most likely to blame both sides, while Democrats mostly put the blame on white supremacists. Independents were almost evenly split between blaming the two. Very few in any group blamed the counter-protesters alone, though Republicans were the most likely to do so.

Those who blamed white supremacists:

• Democrats: 68 percent.
• Republicans: 15 percent.
• Independents: 36 percent.

Those who blamed counter-protesters:

• Democrats: 2 percent.
• Republicans: 10 percent.
• Independents: 7 percent.

Those who blamed both equally:

• Democrats: 21 percent.
• Republicans: 65 percent.
• Independents: 42 percent.

The survey also found that most Virginians support keeping Confederate monuments, the majority seeing them as symbols of Southern heritage as opposed to racism.

MassINC polled 508 registered voters in Virginia by phone, from Aug. 15-19, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

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