This Saturday, GOP Senator Orin Hatch spoke out against the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, saying that it’s a slap in the face to veterans who died in World War II fighting the Nazis, one of whom was his brother.
“We should call evil by its name,” Hatch tweeted, making sure to note that the tweet was composed by him and not his staff. “My brother didn’t give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home.”
We should call evil by its name. My brother didn't give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. -OGH
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) August 12, 2017
President Trump condemned the clashes but raised eyebrows when he said that “many sides” were to blame.
Hatch was 8-years-old when his brother was killed in WWII, and he’s said that his brother’s memory is what compelled him to go into public service. His bother, Jesse, was 20-years-old when the bomber he was a turret gunner on was shot down over Austria.
Previously, Hatch had tweeted that the tiki torches the white nationalist marchers used “may be fueled by citronella but their ideas are fueled by hate, & have no place in civil society.”
Their tiki torches may be fueled by citronella but their ideas are fueled by hate, & have no place in civil society. https://t.co/himqTMBQnH
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) August 12, 2017
Hatch was responding to violent clashes between white nationalist groups and counter-protesters. According to NBC News, one person was killed when a car rammed into protesters who showed up to counter the far-right groups.
White nationalist, white supremacist and alt-right groups initially assembled in Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park Saturday to protest the city’s decision to remove a Confederate monument before the clashes broke out.
So far, there have been a total of three people killed in the clashes. Media reports of the Saturday event show people doing Nazi salutes and chanting slogans like “heil Trump” and “Jews will not divide us.”
Featured image via Gage Skidmore