[JURIST] The House of Representatives [government website] on Tuesday passed a joint resolution [text], now awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature, which condemns both the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the hate groups involved. The bipartisan joint resolution, which was approved [CNN report] by the Senate on the previous day, acknowledges those affected by the mid-August events and explicitly rejects “white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups.” The resolution further labels the events “a domestic terror attack” and calls on Trump to condemn and address forms of hate. It also calls on Attorney General Jeff Sessions [official website] and federal agencies to properly investigate hate groups and report on hate crimes. The joint resolution follows Trump’s controversial response to the Charlottesville violence, which did not place blame solely on any involved group and referred to some white nationalists as “very fine people.” While the joint resolution now heads to Trump for signature, the White House has yet to comment on the matter.

The “Unite the Right” rally took place in mid-August to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the recently renamed Emancipation Park. The rally drew members of white nationalist groups who marched through the streets of Charlottesville Friday night carrying torches and chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans. Counter-protesters clashed with these groups Saturday, and 34 were injured. In addition, two state troopers were killed Saturday when the helicopter they were using to monitor the protests crashed. On the following weekend, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced [JURIST report] a federal civil rights investigation into the events.