You may remember when Airbnb blocked the Charlottesville rally attendees from reserving rooms. They were salty!
Well, more saltiness is being sprinkled after Texas A&M University canceled a White Lives Matter rally organized by former university student Preston Wiginton that was originally scheduled for September 11.
The Washington Post reports that the cancellation came amid safety concerns. “Linking the tragedy of Charlottesville with the Texas A&M event creates a major security risk on our campus,” the university said via an official statement. “Additionally, the daylong event would provide disruption to our class schedules and to student, faculty and staff movement (both bus system and pedestrian).”
The rally was scheduled to be held in the middle of campus at Rudder Plaza, but after Wiginton sent out a press announcement entitled, “Today Charlottesville Tomorrow Texas A&M,” alarms were set off for the university.
Just got this press release under the heading "TODAY CHARLOTTESVILLE TOMORROW TEXAS A&M" pic.twitter.com/W9q16A3Sr7— Matthew Watkins (@MWatkinsTrib) August 12, 2017
“Obviously, there are many white people in America who are angry and Charlottesville was a large gathering to express that anger and hopefully to address those issues,” Wiginton informed WaPo, noting that his rally — which planned to feature white nationalist leader Richard Spencer — was simply “another platform for [angry white people] to be able to express [themselves].”
In response to Texas A&M's cancellation, Wiginton said, “I now know what it was like to be black in the 1960s because clearly civil rights don’t mean anything for white people in America anymore," KENS 5 reports.
Though Texas A&M's statement assured the public that its "support of the First Amendment and freedom of speech cannot be questioned," Wiginton and his supporters scolded the university for taking away their free speech rights.
"They think they're above the law," Wiginton said. "The First Amendment in America doesn't mean anything."
Per the Houston Chronicle, Wiginton plans to pursue legal action against the state of Texas.
“I guess my lawyers will now be suing the state of Texas,” Wiginton told the Texas Tribune.
