Texas university cancels ‘white lives matter’ 9/11 protest inspired by Charlottesville far-right rally

Far-right conspiracy theorist Richard Spencer was due to speak at the event

White nationalist Richard Spencer was due to speak at the Texas event (AP)

A university in Texas has cancelled a white nationalist rally planned for 11 September - inspired by last weekend's far-right event in Charlottesville - over safety concerns.

Neo-Nazis and other extremist groups had planned to host a “white lives matter” protest on Texas A&M’s campus.

The university said the rally would no longer take place after events in Charlottesville, which saw one woman killed and dozens injured when a man with views sympathetic to neo-Nazis deliberately ploughed a car into a crowd of anti-fascist campaigners.

Texas A&M said the white nationalist event planned for September had been cancelled over concerns about the safety of its students, staff and the public.

“Linking the tragedy of Charlottesville and Texas A&M creates a major security risk on our campus,” the university said.

The protest had been organised by former student Preston Wiginton, who was inspired by the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to the university’s student newspaper the Battalion.

Mr ​Wiginton had announced the event in a press release, which read: “Today Charlottesville, tomorrow Texas A&M.”

He said the event was planned to counter “the liberal agenda of white guilt” and the “white genocide that is taught at most all universities in America".

White nationalist and alt-right figure Richard Spencer, who organised the Charlottesville rally, was due to speak at the September event.

The university added in its statement that Mr Wiginton had planned the event outdoors in the middle of campus, as no university facilities had been “afforded him”.

He added that he plans to seek legal action against the university for infringing on his freedom of speech.