Detroit Lions Disavow Alt-Right Use Of Logo In Charlottesville

DETROIT, MI – Another Detroit sports team is taking on white nationalists for using their logo at a deadly Unite the Right rally last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. After a photo surfaced of a replica of the Detroit Lions’ logo on a sign at the rally protesting the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the Lions issued a statement saying they “detest and disavow any use or implied use” of the NFL team’s logo.

The Getty Images photo from the rally showed a protester holding a shield with a logo of a leaping lion that looked remarkably like the powder blue one used by the NFL team. The logo on the sign was half red and half blue, and included some stars that aren’t on the Lions logo. Imprinted on the shield were the words “Nog Ar Nog,” a Swedish phrase meaning “enough is enough.”

“We detest and disavow any use or implied use of the Detroit Lions logo or any of our marks in association with the event this past Saturday in Charlottesville,” Lions spokesman Bill Keenist said late Tuesday. “We value diversity as it represents the strong fabric of our team, the City of Detroit, the NFL, the game of football, our fans and our country.”

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It’s unclear if the team will pursue legal action.

Earlier, the Detroit Red Wings denounced white nationalists who used their iconic winged wheel logo and said the NHL club would pursue copyright infringement action. The group known as the Detroit Right Wings has disappeared from social media.

• Detroit Right Wings Co-Opt NHL Club’s Logo, Go Underground

Violence broke out in Charlottesville Saturday, and a 32-year-old Virginia woman standing up against racism was run over by an alleged Nazi sympathizer.

Watch: The Many Symbols Of The Modern White Power Movement

President Donald Trump is embroiled in another crisis over his response. He condemned people on both sides of the violence Saturday, then waited two days before calling out by name neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups involved in the rally. Trump doubled down Tuesday in a remarkable defense of white nationalist groups, unleashing a tirade against “alt-left” as well.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images