After violence broke out in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend, both of Alaska’s U.S. senators condemned the violent “Unite the Right” demonstrations.
Sen. Dan Sullivan issued a strongly worded statement that singled out the alt-right and their allies.
Hundreds of Facebook users added their own comments to his post. Some thanked Sullivan for specifically calling out far-right groups. But quite a few commentators defended the White nationalists, or complained Sullivan should have allotted equal blame to counter-protestors on the left.
Of over 100 comments that appeared on Sullivan’s post, just over half criticized the senator for condemning only the neo-Nazi side. Nearly all of the comments appear to have come from Alaskans.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski also weighed in on Facebook on Sunday.
Murkowski did not specifically name-check the alt-right or neo-Nazis. Comments on her post were more mixed.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
