‘Go home, Nazis!’
Protesters prevail: White nationalist’s speech drowned out by chants
GAINESVILLE — As white nationalist Richard Spencer took the stage at a University of Florida arts center Thursday, dozens in the crowd took to their feet, raised their fists in unison and began to chant.
“Say it loud, say it clear: Nazis are not welcome here,” they shouted. Then, later: “Go home, Nazis, go home!” “I’m not going home,” Spencer replied. Though he tried to talk over them, Spencer’s speech was derailed by the chanting, which persisted the entire time he was on stage. He was booed, jeered, cursed and laughed at, seemingly causing Spencer to lose his patience, if not his temper.
“You know that what I’m saying is powerful. You know that what I’m saying is going to change the world,” Spencer shouted. “We are stronger than you, and you all know it.”
Meanwhile, more than 2,500 protesters had gathered outside, many of them waving signs denouncing fascism and racism. They marched down Hull Road to the Phillips Center’s lawn, chanting, “Not in our town! Not in our state! We don’t want your Nazi hate!”
His speech thwarted, Spencer shifted to a question-and-answer session, which didn’t go much better. Questioners insulted his looks and beliefs.
Attempts to explain his vision for a white “ethnostate” in North America, which he called a “revolutionary concept,” were interrupted.
“You have all been given the amazing opportunity to take part in the most important free speech event of your lifetimes,” he chided the hecklers.
The protests inside the venue were peaceful, if raucous.
Outside, tensions boiled over at least once.
A man wearing a brown shirt emblazoned with swastikas was immediately surrounded by angry protesters.
Initially, he was able to get through the crowd, but he was surrounded again while trying to leave. One protester, concealing his face, punched him in the head. The crowd continued following him until he walked off campus.
Earlier, an Orlando man with a gun was arrested by the Alachua County Sheriff ’s Office. Sean Brijmohan, 28, was an armed security guard hired by a media group for the event, deputies said. He faces charges of carrying a firearm on school property, authorities said.
It was one of just two arrests; the other was a 34-year-old man booked for resisting an officer without violence. According to a university spokeswoman, there were five injuries, all minor. Gainesville Police said a shot was fired during an argument on Archer Road, but no one as hit.
Before the speech, factions representing various groups, including Black Lives Matter and Antifa — the left-wing group known for their disruptive protest tactics — chanted and marched peacefully down the street. A man holding an Antifa flag said he didn’t intend on being violent unless provoked.
“If you tend to be a fascist and you violate our space, we will defend ourselves, and it will be a little violent,” said the black-clad protester, who declined to provide his name.
Bill Marquardt, an anthropology professor at University of Florida, said he never thought he’d see the day where people openly espousing white nationalist ideology gathered publicly.
“I haven’t been on barricades since 1970,” said Marquardt, holding a sign that read, “White guys for diversity.”
Earlier at a news conference, Spencer said his movement got a boost from the August white nationalist rally that ended in chaos in Charlottesville, Va., during which a 32-year-old counterprotester was killed.
“I think, ultimately, Charlottesville was good for our movement, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t bad things that came along the way,” he said, insisting his movement is peaceful. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt. We don’t want anyone to lose their life.”
All day, UF’s main campus was the scene of a massive law-enforcement presence.
Several main roads were closed, with law enforcement stationed at barricades redirecting traffic — part of a police response UF President W. Kent Fuchs estimated would top 500 officers at a cost surpassing $600,000.
Spencer wouldn’t comment on whether the security level was necessary but said the university and state should bear the financial burden.
“It’s absolutely right,” he said. “This is the free speech issue of our day, and I am very happy that President Fuchs has stood behind us and allowed this to go through.”
Likely the first protester to arrive was Diane Reynolds, a 71-year-old resident of The Villages who said she came because her father fought fascism during World War II.
“Right now, there [are] tears coming to my eyes,” said Reynolds, who wore a peace-sign T-shirt and a hat bearing the word “Imagine,” a reference to John Lennon’s peace anthem. “I don’t have words for it. It’s just too disgusting.”
Earlier in the day, few students were seen in the area surrounding the arts center.
Hundreds of reporters and news cameras descended on UF, though many were not be able to attend Spencer’s speech. His group, the National Policy Institute, controlled ticketing and press credentials.
About 11 a.m., several Spencer supporters arrived and were swarmed by reporters. They described Spencer and his followers as under assault from leftwing, anti-fascist protesters and the news media.
On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in Alachua County, allowing local law enforcement to partner with state and other agencies to provide security.
Spencer events on other campuses have sometimes prompted skirmishes between Spencer’s supporters and opponents, including “Antifa,” or anti-fascists. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Fuchs urged people to boycott Spencer’s speech at UF.
Spencer has drawn added scrutiny since participating the August rally in Charlottesville, during which white nationalist demonstrators marched with torches chanting slogans, including “Jews will not replace us” and the Nazi-inspired “blood and soil.”
Spencer, who calls himself a protector of “the white majority,” is considered a white supremacist by both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which track hate groups.
As his UF speech wrapped up, the throng of protesters who disrupted the event headed for the exits.
Spencer insisted they hadn’t defeated him.
“You think that you shut me down? Well you didn’t,” he said.
“You actually failed at your own game ... because the world is going to look at this event and the world is going to have a very different impression of the University of Florida because you acted this way.”