(JTA) — MGM Resorts International denounced “hate speech and hate-based actions” in a letter to employees that offered to match their donations to civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League.
“The events in Charlottesville and Barcelona can easily cause us to feel overcome by hatred and gutted by violence, leaving open questions about our future — as a nation, a global society and even a human race,” James Murren, the company’s CEO, wrote in a letter that was made public by the Las Vegas Review Journal. “The protection of human dignity, demonstrated in the form of tolerance and respect for all people, is the core of our identity.”
Murren also wrote in announcing the matching donations program: “While hate mongers and white supremacists have a constitutional right to express their views, we must stand strongly in defiance of violence, bigotry and anything that threatens our precious right to equality,”
In addition to the ADL, the letter listed these human rights groups eligible for matching funds from MGM Resorts: Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP, Human Rights Campaign, Council on American Islamic Relations, OCA National-Asian Pacific American Advocates and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
MGM Resorts is the largest casino operator on the Las Vegas Strip and employs about 77,000 people worldwide, according to Bloomberg News. It is one of the largest employers in Nevada.
Murren was a lifelong Republican before he broke ranks last year and endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
