Cox backs out of 'Unite the Right' rally after backlash
BALTIMORE -- Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox has canceled his appearance at a rally that shared the name of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, his campaign announced Tuesday.
"Unite the Right"-- renamed Tuesday to "Maryland United" -- is a rally for the state's Republican candidates. It was organized by Kim Klacik, a WBAL Radio host who ran for Congress twice.
The infamous Unite the Right rally in August 2017 featured mobs chanting "Jews will not replace us" while encircling counter-protesters on the University of Virginia campus, wielding and in some cases throwing burning tiki torches as they marched. The event was organized in part to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Heather Heyer, 32, was killed and 19 more were injured after a man rammed his car into counter-protesters after the rally.
"It has just come to our attention that an event entitled the "Unite the Right" rally has been publicized without the campaign's knowledge of the title," Cox's campaign said Tuesday. "Upon discovery, Delegate Dan Cox and the Dan Cox For Governor campaign have immediately disassociated themselves from any further involvement."
But Klacik said Tuesday all candidates were informed of the title of the event.
"Unfortunately, some were likening our rally to one that occurred in 2017, which there is no relation," she said in a tweet. "All invited candidates were invited before the final details were discussed, including the name. The buck stops with me."
