'I don't want to see Black Lives Matter': Pro-Confederate organizer cancels Virginia Robert E. Lee event

Confederate War activist Bragdon Bowling said this week that he was cancelling plans to rally at a Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia after similar demonstrations in Charlottesville ended with counter-protesters being killed and injured.

During an interview with Richmond Times Dispatch, Bowling initially said that he was weighing his options after the incident in Charlottesville.

“I’m not saying we’ll call it off. I kind of have to watch and see what goes on,” he explained. “I don’t want to see David Duke at this rally, I don’t want to see Antifa, I don’t want to see Black Lives Matter. I don’t want them there.”

“The last thing we ever would want would be any of these nuts — right or left — coming to Richmond causing trouble,” Bowling added.

Just hours later, Bowling told the paper that he was calling off the rally "due to the potential for violence after Charlottesville, the rally on Sept 16 will not be held."

"I do not want to be part of an event where people are hurt or killed," Bowling stated in an email. "Our purpose is to save monuments, not be engaged in social and racial issues."