“White lives matter” rally organizer Preston Wiginton calls off demonstrations at Texas A&M.

AUSTIN — Preston Wiginton, the organizer of a planned “white lives matter” event at Texas A&M, is calling off the demonstration, saying the country needs time to “heal” after one woman died in a weekend of violence in Charlottesville.

Wiginton, a former Texas A&M student, had scheduled the event for Sept. 11, but the university canceled it, citing safety concerns. Wiginton initially indicated that he was going to move forward with the event.

“There is a time in America that two people can come together with different points of view, discuss the views, and walk away better people,” he told a group of reporters Thursday outside of the Capitol. “I don’t feel as though that is the time today.”

Still, Wiginton said he may hold the event later, and he plans to pursue legal action against the university, but no lawsuit has been filed.

In announcing his rally earlier this week, Wiginton evoked Charlottesville with this headline on his press release: “Today Charlottesville Tomorrow Texas A&M.” But Thursday he said he is mourning the loss of Heather Heyer, the woman killed in Charlottesville who was protesting a white supremacy rally.

“I admire her in her passion and her conviction,” Wiginton said, adding that Heyer was as passionate

about her cause as he is about his. Wiginton is a self-identified white nationalist who uses a box of crayons to illustrate that there are people of different colors and races, but everyone should stand up to preserve their own identity.

Adam Key, a Texas A&M student planning an opposition rally to the “white lives matter” event, was pleased that Wiginton canceled the event.

“He said he is going to let things cool down before he comes back,” Key said. “If and when this evil bigotry decides to come to our campus again, we will be ready.”

A spokeswoman with Texas A&M declined to comment.