Someone captured the moment a Nazi at Charlottesville was punched in the jaw mid-Hitler salute

The moment a Nazi in Charlottesville was punched in the face was perfectly captured on camera this weekend.

An anti-fascism protester was pictured giving the middle finger to a Nazi as he raised his arm in a Hitler salute. Photos taken seconds later by Reuters photographer Casey Ian Patchell show the brutal moment the protester took a swing at the Nazi and punched him in the jaw.

Tensions escalated in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend as white supremacists, including neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members, violently clashed with police and anti-racism protesters.

32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed after James Fields from Ohio ploughed his car into a crowd on Saturday (12 August).

Dramatic footage showed Fields intentionally crashing his Toyota into protesters before quickly reversing and driving away. Police caught up with him later and charged Fields with second degree murder.

Two police officers were killed in a separate incident in which the helicopter they were using to monitor protests crashed in a wooded area. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

President Donald Trump was criticised by both Republicans and Democrats for refusing to publicly condemn far-right violence. The US president condemned the violence "on many sides" but stopped short of denouncing the far-right.

Republican Senator Cory Gardner wrote on Twitter: "Mr President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism."

Republican Senator Marco Rubio echoed Gardner's view. "Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists", he wrote on Twitter.