Leaders of associations and business groups have issued statements condemning racism and bigotry in the aftermath of Saturday's protests in Charlottesville, Va.

One woman died and nearly two dozen people were injured after an alleged Nazi-sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd of people protesting a right-wing extremist gathering in the college city, according to news reports. In addition, two law enforcement officers were killed when their helicopter crashed as they were monitoring demonstrations from the air.

Both Democrats and Republicans criticized President Donald Trump for issuing a statement on the day of the violence that many felt didn't go far enough in calling out white nationalists and neo-Nazis.

Trump made another statement Monday specifically condemning both groups, but not before Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier resigned from the president's manufacturing council in protest of Trump's earlier remarks. Three other CEOs have since resigned from the council, including Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

BRT issued a statement Monday by CEO Joshua Bolten and board President Jamie Dimon urging equality and tolerance following the weekend protests. They didn't mention Trump or his comments. (No CEOs who resigned from the manufacturing council were BRT members.)

"The CEOs of Business Roundtable will never accept such intolerance and hate," Bolten and Dimon said. "We will continue to build our companies around the principles of respect, trust and equal opportunity to all our employees."

ASAE CEO John Graham issued a statement Tuesday also condemning bigotry. The association is currently holding the 2017 ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo in Toronto.

"Hate and intolerance have no place in this world, including the display of bigotry masked as political speech that we've all witnessed in Charlottesville this weekend," Graham said. "ASAE and associations are about bringing people together, and we remain firmly committed to providing a welcoming, inclusive home for all."

At the same time, newly appointed ASAE Board of Directors chairman Matt Shay put aside prepared remarks at the expo to voice support for diversity and oppose racism. Shay is CEO of the National Retail Federation.

"Racism, hatred or bigotry of any kind has no place in our society," Shay said to sustained applause from the association executives and others in the audience. He noted that the day after the violence, he attended a breakfast honoring recipients of scholarships from ASAE's Diversity Executive Leadership Program.

Shay said his own grandparents immigrated to the United States from Germany in the 1930s with little education.

"There is a fundamental strength in our diversity of thought, of religion, of ethnicity, of lifestyle, and that's what's unique about the association profession—we recognize it as a strength to celebrate and embrace, not a weakness to be denigrated or diminished," he said to another round of applause.

Also on Tuesday, National Recreation and Park Association CEO Barbara Tulipane issued a statement "to convey how sickened we are by the violence that erupted during the protests by neo-Nazis and white supremacists this past weekend in Charlottesville." The far-right protesters were rallying to oppose the removal of a sculpture of General Robert E. Lee that currently stands in a public park.

"Parks should be a gathering place for all people, but not if the purpose of that gathering is to incite violence, hatred and bigotry," Tulipane said, adding that NRPA "stands against those that would take our country backward."

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