Since the violence caused by white supremacists, neo-Nazi's and Trump supporters broke out last weekend, citizens, lawmakers and even makers of products such as the Tiki-torches that supremacists used a week ago, denounced any remote association with those groups. The rally was referred to as "Unite the Right" and also included Trump supporters from the "alt-right" which used a symbol last year that was practically "hijacked" from artist Matt Furie who also had to come out and denounce their use of his character as their symbol. That symbol being Pepe The Frog.

Hauser 'exhumed' Pepe for independent book

On Monday, the Denton Independent School District removed assistant principle Eric Hauser from his position for using the frog in a self-published book just days before the school he was going to supervise, Rodriguez Middle School, was to open its doors in Oak Point. His book was a children's book titled "The Adventures of Pepe and Pede" which he self-published on August 1. In many cases where a school or an employer take similar action to remove someone, there is generally a misunderstanding. But Hauser made no secret that the book had conservative themes. The school district did their research, however, and reassigned him when they learned what Pepe the Frog meant to alt-right circles.

One Twitter user also revealed that Hauser did know it was an alt-right symbol when he reached out to Milo Yiannopoulos, the former Breitbart editor one week before he was removed.

This being the case, it looks like he lied. In fact, Eric Hauser was specifically pitching his book as one with conservative themes. One of these "conservative themes" was to make the enemy of the book who represents a Muslim cleric or an Imam as conservatives have been very open about their hostility towards Muslims and the Islamic faith.

But Hauser didn't get attention for his book until he had actually notified the district, perhaps to make sure there were no present conflicts of interest? The former assistant principle also agreed after a review that it would be best if he stepped away from his position over the controversial publication.

How the alt-right's 'kidnapping' of Pepe ended in tragedy

Hauser claimed that he did not know that Pepe the Frog was used as a symbol for the alt-right. But this is surprising given his knowledge of "conservative values" that are much in line with alt-right ideology. The fact that he used Pepe for a book that has conservative themes is too much of a coincidence for him to claim that he didn't know it Pepe was an alt-right symbol.

Also, last year the symbol made headlines a when it was reported that Hillary Clinton's website had identified Pepe the Frog as being associated with the abrasively-hostile right-wing group that supports Donald Trump. It was also reported last year that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had declared the character a hate symbol and continued to list it as one despite Furie's efforts to have it removed.

Mr. Furie teamed up with the ADL to put together a #SavePepe campaign. Part of this Furie's campaign was publishing a comic with The Nib where Pepe is terrified by what he's become. Certainly, given that the alt-right movement is claimed by white nationalist (and Nazi sympathizer) Richard Spencer is enough was enough to terrify Pepe's creator.

Spencer has said when speaking with supporters in recent years that those in the alt-right movement should do everything to promote their cause, including using the Pepe the Frog character. Despite Furie's efforts (and mine) he was unable to save Pepe and so the artist ended up "killing" him off in May 2017 placing him in a coffin.

Other's running around with a 'dead' Pepe

This was not the first time that a person or a product was rejected over Pepe the Frog. In June, an app called "Pepe Scream" was reportedly rejected by Apple's App Store for using the symbol. The creator of the app proudly posted the rejection letter a Donald Trump forum on Reddit. The app did end up in Google's app store along with other Pepe related apps.