Getty The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee stands in the center of Emancipation Park the day after the Unite the Right rally devolved into violence August 13, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
James Allsup, Peter Cvjetanovic and Cole White are three men who were revealed to have allegedly attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
White has now quit his job at a hot dog stand, and the other two are students at universities that are being pressured to expel them. All three have defended themselves in media interviews, denying they are racists.
The rally, which was motivated by a plan to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee from the city’s downtown, descended into violence when a rally attendee and alleged Hitler admirer, James Alex Fields, allegedly drove into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing paralegal Heather Heyer and injuring 19 other people. Other people were also injured in clashes between rally attendees and counter protesters.
The three men were among those who attendance was highlighted by a Twitter page called Yes, you’re racist. The site, run by a man named Logan Smith, is trying to identify people who attended the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Cvjetanovic Was Featured in a Viral Photo Holding a Torch
White nationalist, #PeterCvjetanovic is upset that this photo of him has gone viral. So please dont retweet this 1000s of times
KTVN identified Cyjetanovic, 20 as a Reno resident.
Cvjetanovic “is an undergraduate at the university studying history and political science,” the television station reported. According to ThisisReno.com, “His Facebook profile shows him to be a member of the International Group of National Conservatives (Alt-Right), Croation World Network CROWN and The Preservation of Sagas, Eddas, And Nordic History” and added, “The UNR College Republicans published a photograph with U.S. Senator Dean Heller that allegedly also shows Cvjetanovic.”
The college student told the television station in an interview that he had attended the rally but denied he’s the “angry racist” people think he is because of the photo. A Twitter profile page in his name reads, “Changing the world for the better. Here to clear my name. White Nationalist” and bears a cover photo that reads, “Trump’s America.” The tweets are protected.
“I came to this march for the message that white European culture has a right to be here just like every other culture,” Cvjetanovic told the television station. “It is not perfect; there are flaws to it, of course. However I do believe that the replacement of the statue will be the slow replacement of white heritage within the United States and the people who fought and defended and built their homeland. Robert E, Lee is a great example of that. He wasn’t a perfect man, but I want to honor and respect what he stood for during his time.”
2. A Change.Org Petition Wants Cvjetanovic Expelled From His University in Nevada
GettyRescue workers and medics tend to many people who were injured when a car plowed through a crowd of anti-facist counter-demonstrators marching through the downtown shopping district August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
A Change.org petition is demanding that the University of Nevada-Reno expel and fire Cyjetanovic. It reads, “Expel and fire him from your institution and ARTICULATE the actions you have taken to address this. It is not enough to say that this is not tolerated on your campus. YOU NEED TO ACT AS WELL.” More than 15,000 people have signed it.
According to USA Today, University President Marc Johnson released a statement that said, “We denounce any movement that targets individuals due to the color of their skin, their religious beliefs, political beliefs, sexual orientation, ability/disability, or whether they were born in our country.”
3. Cole White Left His Job at a Hot Dog Stand for Attending the Rally
After being outed on Twitter as a rally participant, Cole White no longer has a job at a hot dog stand in Berkeley, California.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Top Dog denied earlier reports that White was fired, saying, “Cole chose to voluntarily resign his employment with Top Dog and we accepted his resignation. There have been reports that he was terminated. Those reports are false. There have been reports that top dog knowingly employs racists and promotes racist theology. That too is false. Individual freedom and voluntary exchange are core to the philosophy of Top Dog. We look forward to cooking the same great food for at least another 50 years.”
White has released a statement denying he is a white supremacist. You can read it here:
Cole White formerly of Top Dog: “I am not a white supremacist.” #Berkeley #Charolettesville #WhiteSupremacy rally t.co/psXad5gUwL
“The former worker, Cole White, was identified on social media holding a torch at the ‘Unite The Right’ event,” reported SFEater.com.
The restaurant posted a sign on its door informing customers that Cole White no longer worked there, while expressing support for “individual freedom.”
Top Dog is a Libertarian hot dog stand, according to SFEater.
4. James Allsup Admits Attending the Rally & Denies He’s a Racist
Then Washington State University College Republican President James Allsup told KREM-TV that he attended the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
KREM 2 spoke with Allsup, reporting that, “At the time of their conversation Sunday, Allsup was at an urgent care clinic in Charlottesville where he is being treated for minor exposure to pepper spray.” Of the violence, he told KREM, “I think it’s terrible that anyone had to lose their life. I think that’s awful.”
The Logan Smith Twitter page named James Allsup as a rally attendee and called him a “racist,” which he has adamantly denied in his own Twitter posts. Allsup said the Twitter page Yes, You’re Racist was slandering him and had no proof he’s racist and defined himself a “paleoconservative” or a “right wing libertarian,” according to KREM.
In one Twitter post, he explained why he was marching, writing, “I was going to talk about how removing Confederate statues is wrong- couldn’t speak though, leftists shut it down.”
He responded to a tweet demanding that his university expel him by writing, “Please do- huge civil rights lawsuit win for me.” Here are some of his other recent tweets on the topic:
https://twitter.com/realJamesAllsup/status/896792433866018816
https://twitter.com/realJamesAllsup/status/896726103603245056
https://twitter.com/realJamesAllsup/status/897105273873190913
https://twitter.com/realJamesAllsup/status/897101834279686144
https://twitter.com/realJamesAllsup/status/896932317020774400
https://twitter.com/realJamesAllsup/status/896813770038804482
Heavy has reached out to Allsup via Twitter.
Washington State University’s president released a statement denouncing the rally.
Allsup has a YouTube channel with videos viewed by thousands.
5. ‘Yes You’re Racist’s’ Founder Says He’s Receiving Death Threats
Digging through racist tweets every day is pretty draining… If you enjoy this project, consider buying me a beer? t.co/6KDshWjdms
The Twitter page “yes, you’re racist” is devoted to putting names to faces of people pictured as attending the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.
On a Patreon site, the page owner explains, “I’ve been exposing casual racism on Twitter since 2012. The project has been covered by news outlets such as CNN, the BBC, and Der Spiegel, and I’ve even published an op-ed in the UK Independent. All the while, I’ve been scouring the underbelly of Twitter to expose people who say they’re not racist, and then go on to prove otherwise.”
The site is run by Logan Smith, who works as the communications director for Progress NC Action, according to The News Observer, which quotes Smith as saying he’s been receiving death threats.
“I just started seeing all these photos from the torch march Friday night and the riots on Saturday and it was just so disturbing,” he said to the newspaper. “These photos from the torch march – it was exactly what you see in photos from 1930s Germany. But this is not happening in history books or some faraway country – it’s here, it’s now.”