Fee dispute scraps Ohio alt-right speech
CINCINNATI — A white nationalist’s plan to speak on the University of Cincinnati campus during spring break has been scuttled by a legal standoff over the Ohio school’s demand for a security fee of nearly $11,000, an attorney for Richard Spencer said Monday.
Attorney Kyle Bristow said that Spencer’s tour organizer, Cameron Padgett, is now hoping that the appearance can be rescheduled for summer or fall.
The University of Cincinnati president confirmed in a message Monday to the school community that the March 14 date proposed was no longer an option. He said couldn’t speculate on any potential future date or on the outcome of the lawsuit filed against the school over the fee. University President Neville Pinto said the school’s public safety department requires at least six weeks to prepare for the safety needs for such an event.
He added that the university has “historically” charged security fees and costs of the rental of any of its facilities by an outside entity.
When the university asked for rental and security fees, Bristow responded with a Jan. 9 federal lawsuit seeking a “reasonable fee.”
Spencer was a scheduled speaker at a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., last August that led to deadly violence when a man struck and killed a counter-protester with his car.
Spencer has popularized the term “alt-right” to refer to a fringe movement that’s a mix of white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant beliefs.