White nationalist demonstrators walk through town after their rally was declared illegal near Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Lawrence city commissioners agreed to send a letter with condolences and words of support to the mayor of Charlottesville, Va., following violent protests over the weekend.

“I wish to send thoughts and condolences on behalf of the City of Lawrence, Kansas as your community heals from the hateful demonstrations, senseless violence and domestic terrorism of the weekend of August 11, 2017,” reads the letter, which was signed by Mayor Leslie Soden.

On Saturday, a car plowed into a group of people protesting a white nationalist rally, killing 32-year-old legal assistant Heather Heyer and injuring at least 19 other protesters. Two state police officers who had been monitoring the protests also died in a helicopter crash.

The letter was also accompanied by a proclamation. The proclamation condemns all forms of racism, hatred and bigotry, and states the events in Charlottesville were cowardly.

“The acts of racism, hatred and senseless violence in Charlottesville were cowardly and not representative of the values we hold as Americans,” the proclamation states.

After reading the letter and proclamation, Soden said that she thought it was important that the city make a statement about what happened, as it has with other national events such as the mass shooting last year at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

Commissioners agreed to send the letter and make the proclamation at their meeting Tuesday. Commissioner Lisa Larsen condemned all white supremacist groups and told those gathered for the meeting that the country belongs to everyone.

“I just want everybody to know that I condemn the hate and the violence that’s sponsored and spewed by the KKK as well as all the other white supremacist groups out there,” Larsen said. “Further, I reject their constant egregious assumptions that their country needs to be taken back.”

One of the reasons the white nationalists gathered in Charlottesville is because of the city’s recent decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and rename the park it stands in. Vice Mayor Boley said Lawrence is fortunate that it doesn’t have any confederate monuments that could be “flash points” for such incidents, but called attention to the city’s own past.

“We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of our own fair housing ordinance that took us from de-facto segregation into the future,” Boley said. “So, we have to also look at our past and realize that we were a segregated community and we need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to value each other here, now, today.”

Commissioner Matthew Herbert, who grew up in Lawrence, also called for people to recognize that Lawrence does not exist in a bubble. As an example, Herbert mentioned that toward the end of a community vigil in response to Charlottesville, which was held Sunday in South Park, some passerby were intentionally disruptive.

“It really awakens you to the idea that we don’t live in a bubble,” Herbert said. “What happens in Charlottesville, what happens in Orlando, those are all cities that are ultimately no different than Lawrence and we can’t exist with this notion of we’re a special place where this won’t happen.”

Commissioner Mike Amyx told Soden the recognition is needed so it is known they are thinking of those affected by the events in Charlottesville.

“Mayor, your recognition hits everything that I could possibly say,” Amyx said. “I think the truth of the matter is that the senselessness of all of this, it just doesn’t add up.”

The University of Kansas and the Lawrence school district also made statements following the events in Charlottesville. In a message signed by Chancellor Douglas Girod, the university expressed “profound sadness and concern” at the events. A statement signed by the school board condemned “hate speech, violence and white supremacy in every form.”