(NEW YORK) — After white nationalists were seen holding tiki torches while marching through the University of Virginia on Friday night, TIKI Brand Products came out with a statement denouncing the extremists.
“TIKI Brand is not associated in any way with the events that took place in Charlottesville and are deeply saddened and disappointed,” the tiki torch-maker said. “We do not support their message or the use of our products in this way. Our products are designed to enhance backyard gatherings and to help family and friends connect with each other at home in their yard.”
The white supremacists chanted “white lives matter,” “you will not replace us,” and “blood and soil” — a phrase associated with Nazis — ahead of Saturday’s far-right “Unite the Right” rally to protest the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Violence erupted on Saturday when the rally-goers clashed with counter-protesters, and one 32-year-old woman died when a car crashed into a group of demonstrators protesting against the white nationalists. Two Virginia State Police officers were also killed when the helicopter they were in to monitor the protests crashed nearby.
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