Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

Given the racially-motivated events that occurred in Charlottesville recently, it’s understandable that many are on edge and high-alert when it comes to racial protests, demonstrations and rallies, whether they’re intended to be peaceful or not. Texas A&M apparently didn’t want any violence to occur on campus, so they cancelled a scheduled White Lives Matter rally.

Set to feature white nationalist frontman (and overall disgusting human being) Richard Spencer, the planned White Lives Matter rally was originally scheduled for September 11, however Texas A&M took a firm stance and decided to cancel the entire thing. Many racists, in this case white supremacists, love to hide behind the First Amendment when it comes to hosting rallies that are filled with disgusting hate-speech and Texas A&M wanted no parts of potential violence or social unrest on campus.

The Root further reports on the controversial cancellation, specifically the university’s statement on the matter:

The Texas Tribune reports that Texas A&M said that it made its final decision after consulting law enforcement and after “considerable study,” and ultimately ruled that the event will not take place due to “concerns about the safety of its students, faculty, staff and the public.”

“Texas A&M’s support of the First Amendment and the freedom of speech cannot be questioned,” the university said in a statement Monday afternoon. “However, in this case, circumstances and information relating to the event have changed, and the risks of threat to life and safety compel us to cancel the event.”

White nationalist Preston Wiginton was the event organizer and sent out a press release with the headline: “TODAY CHARLOTTESVILLE TOMORROW TEXAS A&M.” This caught the attention of school officials and set the cancellation in motion. Amy Smith, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at the university stated “We were disturbed about the title of Mr. Wiginton’s release. When we discussed with law enforcement and others who were at the meeting today, there was no guarantee that we could guarantee safety,” Smith added. “If we could not get that guarantee from our law enforcement, we were not going to put a single student at risk.”

 

Check out today’s Top Stories here:

Kamala Harris: There Aren’t ‘Many Sides’ On Charlottesville Violence

Michael Bennett, Marshawn Lynch Sit For National Anthem

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.