S.D. GOP whip loses job, speaking event over controversial meme

RAPID CITY — A real estate company dropped its ties to a state lawmaker Tuesday night after she shared an image on Facebook depicting protesters being hit by a vehicle under the caption, "All Lives Splatter."

Keller Williams Realty of the Black Hills, where Rep. Lynne DiSanto was previously listed as an associate realtor, announced on Facebook that it was no longer associated with her.

Another group, Working Against Violence, Inc., said they were in search of another speaker for an upcoming event after DiSanto shared the image September 7, less than one month after a driver plowed through counter protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 19 others.

The Box Elder Republican deleted the post Tuesday after it was circulated by members of progressive groups South Dakota Forward and Indivisible Rapid City, who called on the lawmaker to apologize.

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"To put up a meme that pretty much encourages violence and possibly murder, that's inappropriate. She's a community leader and an elected official," said Lori Miller, a spokeswoman for Indivisible Rapid City. "Not only is she inciting violence, she is targeting a certain race of people."

DiSanto, who is the GOP's majority whip in the House, did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment. In an interview with the Rapid City Journal, DiSanto said she was sorry if the post offended people and should've thought more about posting the image given "the highly charged political environment that we’re in."

“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. “I perceived it differently. I perceived it as encouraging people to stay out of the street.”

The image she uploaded in a public Facebook post said, "All lives splatter. Nobody cares about your protests. Keep your ass out of the road."

DiSanto in her post added, "I think this is a movement we can all support."

Comments from friends and constituents on the post were initially supportive of the image. After the post was more widely circulated the tone of comments turned against DiSanto until she deleted the post Tuesday afternoon.

DiSanto is set to again serve as majority whip during the 2018 legislative session unless she opts to step down from the elected position, said House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, R-Platte.

"I don't think that will have an impact," Qualm said. "Obviously I think she wishes she had not put it out there, but she was quick to pull it down and it seems like one of those things you do without putting much though into it."

Qualm said the move was an error in judgment. He said the party does not condone hitting protesters. A spokesman for the South Dakota Republican Party didn't immediately respond to a call requesting comment Tuesday afternoon.

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Heather Heyer, 32, was killed August 8 in a car attack on counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. An Ohio man, James Alex Fields, Jr., 20, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, several counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run.

South Dakota lawmakers earlier this year passed a bill increasing the penalties for those who trespass in restricted zones. The law that took effect this spring doesn't allow drivers to hit protesters in roadways.