Members of Suffolk City Council on Wednesday had strong condemnation for the hate and violence that took place in Charlottesville over the weekend.

Mayor Linda T. Johnson started the meeting in an unusual manner, asking for a moment of silence for the victims of what she called a “shameful tragedy.”

Saturday’s rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville was met with counterprotesters speaking up for marginalized people, resulting in some clashes between the groups. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed and 19 others were injured when a car plowed into a group of the counterprotesters. Two state troopers, Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates and Lt. H. Jay Cullen, also lost their lives when the helicopter from which they were helping monitor the events crashed.

“I personally condemn the actions that took place over the weekend in Charlottesville,” Councilman Donald Goldberg said on Wednesday. “We have seen racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism and hate expressed by members of extreme groups. We must speak out against such organizations. We must stand and work to make our community to be more inclusive to all people of color, faiths, gender and country of origin. We must make our city, state and nation that shining star that welcomes all with a sense of humanity.”

Vice Mayor Leroy Bennett said there is no place for “radical groups in our state and our country.”

He called for prayer to help effect change.

“We all need to stay in prayer, because that’s what it takes is prayer,” he said. “We cannot change people, but God can change anything, so that’s what we need — to keep our faith and trust in Him.”

Councilman Lue Ward applauded Gov. Terry McAuliffe for making it clear the extremist groups were not welcome in Virginia.

“It felt so good to see that,” said Ward, who is black. “We look at things a little different because of the history of that. When you see other people from other races protesting that type of evil, you’re for them, because we lived that.”

Councilman Tim Johnson said he hopes everyone learns from the past.

“There’s no room in our city, there’s no room in our country for bigotry and racism,” he said. “We must learn from our past and provide a brighter future for our children.”

Councilman Roger Fawcett decried the intentional car crash that killed Heyer.

“It’s sad that a 32-year-old female, Heather Heyer, lost her life because of the environment that was in that city,” he said. “That was a senseless act as much as it was for the whole entire operation that was there.”

Councilman Curtis Milteer said he hopes for a healing process to occur.

“There’s nothing you can do to change it, but we can build up from that,” he said.

Mayor Johnson closed the meeting by addressing the issue again.

“It’s time for everybody to embrace one another regardless of your race, your color, your creed your national origin, where you live, who you love, I don’t care,” she said. “It’s time for us to love each other as human beings and move forward as it was meant for us to be.”