Right-wing militia pulls out of event with New Mexico Republicans, citing 'blatantly racist' remarks from some speakers

Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal/AP

• The New Mexico Civil Guard announced on Sunday that it is pulling out of an August 22 rally that features a number of local Republicans.
• The news comes after Business Insider reported on the existence of the rally, which was to pay "special tribute" to the group, whose leaders include a neo-Confederate and a member of the Proud Boys, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group.
• In a post on Facebook, the New Mexico Civil Guard said that state Republicans had shown the group "an overwhelming amount of very appreciated support."
• But the paramilitary group claimed it could not attend the rally because "key speakers have publicly made some remarks that came across as blatantly racist."
• The rally is set to feature Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin, who has argued that Black athletes protesting racism in the US should "go back to Africa."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A right-wing militia is pulling out of a rally featuring elected Republicans days after Business Insider reported that one of its leaders is a member of a hate group who has denied the Holocaust.

The New Mexico Civil Guard, in a Facebook post on Sunday, said it had "made the decision not to attend the event" — where organizers planned to pay "special tribute" to the paramilitary group — for a number of reasons, among them: that the militia, while led by avowed supporters of President Donald Trump, is ostensibly nonpartisan.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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See Also:

• New Mexico Republican says she's no longer speaking at a rally paying 'special tribute' to a far-right militia, following our report on the militia and its founder
• Lawmakers and activists in Portland must now contend with local police reform, after 3 weeks of being united against Trump putting federal agents in the city
• It's been strangely peaceful in New Zealand, where until Tuesday there hadn't been a new case of COVID-19 in 102 days

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