Man Who Hit Person With Stick Backs Out of Charlottesville City Council Race After BLP Report

Don Gathers, the social justice activist who was spotted hitting a man with a stick in the early moments of violence at Charlottesville’s Unite the Right rally in 2017, will not seek a City Council seat in the Virginia city at this time.

Gathers was slated to kick things off with a launch party, but backed out — citing health reasons.

This comes after Big League Politics’ report on Gather’s activity at the Unite the Right fiasco, in which we wrote:

Activist Don Gathers, identified as the stick-wielding Black Lives Matter supporter who struck at least one person in the crowd as violence was developing at the 2017 Unite the Right rally, is now running for Charlottesville City Council.

Gathers is running in the June 11 Democratic primary alongside another activist named Michael Payne, and their campaign slogan is “Community Driven, Community Focused.” Gathers is making his public announcement Tuesday.

Gathers is a well-known agitator seen here leading activists with his stick.

Gathers has been identified as the man who swings his stick repeatedly, samurai-style, at the 1:30 Minute Mark of this video from the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.