120 student groups shut out white supremacist rally from military college on 9/11

Hoping to capitalize on their headline-making hate rally in Virginia, and to further spread their message of bigotry and intimidation, white supremacists were poised to stage a high-profile event at Texas A&M University on Sept. 11.

The organizers were clear about their repugnant focus for the 9/11 rally: To “protest the liberal anti-white agenda which includes white guilt which leads to white genocide.” The event was set to feature prominent white nationalist leader, Richard Spencer, who played a role in the mayhem in Charlottesville.

But late Monday, officials at the military college called off the White Lives Matter vigil, citing concerns about public safety. “The risks of threat to life and safety compel us to cancel the event,” the university announced in a statement.

“The thoughts and prayers of Aggies here on campus and around the world are with those individuals affected by the tragedy in Charlottesville,” the statement continued.

Spencer, who advocates an Aryan homeland, spoke at Texas A&M in December and things almost got ugly. “That night, the campus seemed constantly on the brink of boiling over,” the Texas Tribune reported. “Spencer’s talk was interrupted repeatedly with shouting, pushing and shoving among people in the crowd.” Spencer told the Texas A&M crowd that America “belongs to white men.”

That white supremacist event in December was so disruptive for the school that the university changed its policy regarding outside speakers. Today, speakers must be invited by a campus-affiliated group.

And not a single one of Texas A&M’s 120 student groups were willing to sponsor the bigotry-driven “White Lives Matter” rally.

The students were already planning counter protests, making it clear just how unwelcome this hateful ideology is on their campus.

As Adam Key, one of the organizers of the counter-protest, stated definitively, “Aggies started fighting Nazis in World War II. We have no plans to stop any time soon.”

The decision was also cheered with poignant words by military veterans.

Texas A&M has strong military ties and is designated as one of six senior military colleges in America. During World War II when the U.S. was fighting Nazis in Europe, Texas A&M sent more than 20,000 cadets to fight.

“There is nothing more diametrically opposed to military values than bigotry and Nazism,” Will Fischer, director of government relations for Vote Vets, said in a statement to Shareblue. “Our military doesn’t stand for this kind of stuff, and neither should anyone else.”