{"id":401115,"date":"2026-09-16T03:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T03:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/401115\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T03:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T03:24:12","slug":"florida-republican-candidate-marched-with-neo-nazis-in-infamous-charlottesville-rally-report-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/401115\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Republican candidate marched with neo-Nazis in infamous Charlottesville rally: report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>A Republican running for a seat in the<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/alligator-alcatraz-cages-florida-detention-center-b3050057.html\"> Florida<\/a> House of Representatives marched with neo-Nazis in the<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/charlottesville-robert-e-lee-statue-protest-b2556284.html\"> infamous \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally in Charlottesville, Virginia<\/a>, in 2017, according to a new report. <\/p>\n<p>Marshall Rawson \u2014 who has touted his activism in preserving Confederate soldiers&#8217; monuments across North Florida \u2014 marched alongside the League of the South during the deadly Charlottesville rally, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/florida-rawson-charlottesville\">Talking Points Memo<\/a>, an independent political news organization, reported Monday. <\/p>\n<p>The League of the South is described by civil rights organizations as a white supremacist group that advocates for the secession of Southern states.<\/p>\n<p>Rawson and his now-wife Megan were seen on video arriving at the Charlottesville rally and being greeted by name by League of the South members, according to Talking Points Memo, which reviewed the footage. <\/p>\n<p>The Republican was also seen in a photo taken during the protest standing near neo-Nazi <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/james-alex-fields-charlottesville-white-supremacist-b2291478.html\">James Alex Fields Jr<\/a>., who later drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, the news outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Charlottesville-rally.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Marshall Rawson, a Republican running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives, marched with neo-Nazis in the infamous 'United the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to a new report\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Marshall Rawson, a Republican running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives, marched with neo-Nazis in the infamous &#8216;United the Right&#8217; rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to a new report (Getty Images)<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-9-56-03-PM.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Rawson \u2014 who has touted his activism in preserving Confederate soldiers' monuments across North Florida \u2014 reportedly marched alongside the League of the South during the Charlottesville rally\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Rawson \u2014 who has touted his activism in preserving Confederate soldiers&#8217; monuments across North Florida \u2014 reportedly marched alongside the League of the South during the Charlottesville rally (Marshall Rawson campaign)<\/p>\n<p>Fields<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/james-fields-jailed-life-prison-white-charlottesville-murder-heather-heyer-a8979986.html\"> was sentenced in 2019 to life in prison<\/a> for federal hate crimes related to the car attack that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured dozens more. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the entire span of my adult life, I\u2019ve been very active defending historical monuments from destruction or removal, and I feel that way about almost all monuments, not just those associated with southern history,\u201d Rawson told Talking Points Memo in response to their reporting. <\/p>\n<p>The Independent has reached out to Rawson for comment. <\/p>\n<p>Rawson writes on his campaign website that he will defend \u201cour cultural heritage against attacks from the radical left,\u201d citing his efforts to protect monuments dedicated to Confederate soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past decade, state and local officials across the country <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/confederate-statue-removed-north-carolina-b2818104.html\">have removed these monuments<\/a> and other Confederate symbols due to their ties to white supremacy. <\/p>\n<p>The Charlottesville rally was sparked by the city council\u2019s decision to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-politics\/confederate-robert-lee-statue-charlottesville-b1940505.html\">remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee<\/a>. The statue was melted down in 2023. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-831058828.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"The rally turned deadly when neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens more\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>The rally turned deadly when neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens more (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Rawson wrote in a May 2025 Facebook<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid029kgET77bE8YJw3Ts8H8ncXqmXvrMcdVzgmWbbhjC2T1iiRfUzp2N6XhW7EqCzN88l&amp;id=61572907880446&amp;rdid=HgaS6N2NTRA4lLn7#\"> post<\/a> that he was involved with the League of the South from 2013 to 2016. <\/p>\n<p>He said his involvement with the group \u201cconsisted exclusively of myself and the organization demonstrating against the unfettered immigration\/ \u2018gang of eight\u2019 amnesty policies that were hurting local workers, defense of marriage activism that was a response to Federal Activist Judges overthrowing state law, and then later in defense of our historic monuments that were being attacked by woke rioters and weak politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rawson won the Republican primary for the Florida House District 10 last month and will face off against Democrat Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson in November. <\/p>\n<p>Malwitz-Jipson called the new reporting about Rawson\u2019s involvement in the Charlottesville rally \u201cextremely alarming.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must put hatred, secession, and fear behind us as a country, which means we cannot elect Marshall Rawson,\u201d the Democrat <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MerrilleeforFloridaHouseDistrict10\/posts\/pfbid037LTFWJcWeHoJPu3teN9oRDHBuCtDXumnz8abhaUM951Y5f2uABUSj6xKAmFsZWQol\">wrote<\/a> on Facebook Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-401115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}