A Republican state legislator in South Dakota apologized Tuesday after sharing a meme on Facebook that appeared to encourage people to hit protestors with vehicles.
Under the headline “All Lives Splatter,” the cartoon showed a car apparently hitting people in the street and said “nobody cares about your protest” and “keep your ass out of the road.”
Her caption above the image said “I think this is a movement we can all support,” according to local newspaper, the Argus Leader.
After local progressive groups shared the image and asked for an apology from the lawmaker, Rep. Lynne DiSanto deleted the post and said she “perceived it as encouraging people to stay out of the street.”
“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, according to the Rapid City Journal. “I perceived it differently.”
Not long after the post was deleted, the real estate firm where she works posted on Facebook that DiSanto was no longer associated with the company, “due to recent events,” Rapid City Journal reported.
The post comes at a time of heightened concern about violence at protests.
About a month ago a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia ended in the death of a woman named Heather Heyer, who was killed when a man affiliated with the white supremacists allegedly drove his car through a crowd of counter protesters.
