The Detroit Red Wings have found themselves unwittingly involved in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that became national new Friday night and into Saturday.
Amid several thousand neo-Nazis and other white supremacists were members of a group called the Detroit Right Wings, who use the Red Wings’ logo to represent their organization.
I look away for 12 hours and the Detroit Red Wings have become a symbol for neo-Nazi dickheads? pic.twitter.com/s7aBiyYkmA
— Andrew Kirell 🤙🏻 (@AndrewKirell) August 12, 2017
They're chanting "Blood and Soil" as they approach Lee Park in #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/2hPmJv9sq0
— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) August 12, 2017
The signs caused enough commotion online that the Red Wings felt the need to issue a statement, which appropriately condemned the white supremacists who co-opted their logo.
The Red Wings said they are “exploring every possible legal action as it pertains to the misuse of our logo in this disturbing demonstration.”
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 12, 2017
The Red Wings earned some plaudits for their decisive, unambiguous statement, benefitting from comparison with others who were a bit slower to speak out.
The Detroit Red Wings have issued a stronger condemnation of white supremacy than the President, and in half the time https://t.co/Nm1ovDpRkJ
— Caitlin Kelly (@caitlin__kelly) August 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/davelozo/status/896439583017185280
And with that, the Detroit Red Wings condemned the white supremacists in Charlottesville before the White House https://t.co/9uLEGFLS9K
— “Mark Berman” (@markberman) August 12, 2017
The situation in Charlottesville has gotten incredibly ugly, with one right-wing protester driving through a crowd of counter-protesters with his car.
Our only gripe with the Red Wings’ statement was the use of the word “disturbing” to describe the rally. Clearly, that was an understatement.
