Free speech and White Supremacy at Texas A & M (and elsewhere)

"At the height of the deadly racist mayhem last Saturday in Charlottesville, a so-called white nationalist named Preston Wiginton announced that he would hold a “White Lives Matter” rally on September 11 on the grounds of Texas A & M, a public university in College Station. The rally would feature Richard Spencer, a well-known white nationalist whose speech at an auditorium at the university in December sparked outrage and near violence on campus. The headline of Wiginton’s press release blared in all caps, “TODAY CHARLOTTESVILLE, TOMORROW TEXAS A&M.”

An opposing group immediately announced a counter-protest to be called “BTHO Hate,” borrowing from a campus sports-program acronym meaning “beat the hell out of.”

On Monday night, Texas A & M announced it was canceling Wigginton’s rally, and issued the following statement:

After consultation with law enforcement and considerable study, Texas A&M is cancelling the event scheduled by Preston Wiginton at Rudder Plaza on campus on September 11 because of concerns about the safety of its students, faculty, staff, and the public."

[Washington Post]