A Republican state lawmaker in South Dakota has apologized after she shared a meme that advocated violence against protesters.
KSFY-TV reports that Rep. Lynne DiSanto shared an image on her Facebook page on Sept. 7 that depicted a car plowing through a crowd of protesters with the caption “All Lives Splatter.”
“Nobody cares about your protest, keep your a** out of the road,” the meme says.
S.Dakota's GOP House Whip shared "All lives Splatter" on her FB. Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/Kaysa5fdBo
— Justin Morris (@tchsmorris) September 19, 2017
DiSanto added her own caption, in a Facebook post, saying “I think this a movement we can all support. #alllivessplatter”
DiSanto shared the meme on her Facebook page less than a month after incidents in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a woman was killed and 19 were injured while protesting against white nationalism when a man drove his car into a crowd.
According to USA Today, the meme remained on DiSanto’s page until Tuesday. She reportedly deleted the post after her post began circulating among left-leaning political groups.
Officials from the South Dakota Democratic Party called on DiSanto to apologize Tuesday evening. She later issued the following statement to the Rapid City Journal.
“I am sorry if people took offense to it and perceived my message in any way insinuating support or condoning people being hit by cars,” DiSanto said. “I perceived it differently. I perceived it as encouraging people to stay out of the street.”
The Rapid City Journal reported Wednesday that DiSanto has lost her position at a local real estate firm because of the Facebook post.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
