The upcoming “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia is taking place “to speak out against displacement level immigration policies in the United States and Europe and to affirm the right of Southerners and white people to organize for their interests just like any other group is able to do, free of persecution,” according to the group’s Facebook event description. But Cosmopolitan found that the event will likely be made up of people identifying themselves as Neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and Ku Klux Klan members.
After becoming aware of this, Airbnb has chosen to cancel many of the bookings made by those planning to attend the rally. After hearing many concerns from members listing accommodations on the site, the company decided that the people staying in their accommodations to attend the rally violate their 2016 “Community Commitment” to require users to “accept people regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age,” they explained to NBC29.
Airbnb has been identifying those who they feel do not follow this policy through background checks and community input. They plan to cancel the accommodations of anyone staying in Charlottesville during the rally who does not seem to support the company’s anti-discrimination law.
Jason Kessler, the organizer of the event, says the company’s choice could spark a law-suit, Cosmo reports. He feels that canceling bookings or kicking rally-goers off the site is uncalled for. However, many of the people being identified as threats to the “Community Commitment” are affiliated with extreme alt-right groups, TIME shares, and were using social media to promote discriminatory and racist events they planned to host in the Airbnb accommodations.
The event is being threatened even more now that city leaders have decided to pull the group’s permit to use Emancipation Park for safety concerns, saying the event needs to be moved to a larger space to accommodate the large group planning to attend.