Richard Spencer is such a controversial speaker that it prompted Florida Govenor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency in preparation for Spencer’s speech at the Univeristy of Florida. Spencer began his speech at the Gainesville College on Thursday, October 19, 2017, just after 2:45 P.M., and was met with protesters chanting, “Go home, Spencer,” and “Nazis are not welcome here.”
“I’m not going home, I’ll stay here all day if I have to,” said Spencer to jeering crowd. The white nationalist speaker would then call them “pre-schoolers” and shrieking and grunting morons.”
The crowd continued to drown out Spencer. A man associated with the speaker identified the vocal audience as “Communist Antifa.”
“You are yelling at a dissident intellectual,” Spencer claimed. “You are cowardly trying to shut down a movement that is growing and that is going to stand up for white people and is going to stand up for the oppressed.”
Spencer told the crowd, “White liberals don’t actually care about you. To them, you are a prop. You are a mascot.”
A total of 500 police officers have been deployed to the University of Florida to maintain order. It is estimated that total roughly $600,000 in security costs and added expenses.
Here’s a video of the speech as it airs live…
During his speech, Spencer was asked why he doesn’t take responsibility for the violence that happened in Charlottesville, where an anti-racism protester was plowed down with a car at a white nationalist rally. “What happened with the death of Heather Heyer remains unclear,” Spencer said. “…Are they going to throw me into moral prison? Not only do I not call for violence. I have explicitly called for peace and for dialogue.”
Spencer called the alleged perpetrator James Field “a scapegoat” and said that he deserves a fair trial.
A man was arrested shortly before Spencer’s speech, for allegedly bringing a gun on campus.
In preparation for Spencer’s speech, Florida’s Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in Alachua County for fears of violent clashes. The University of Florida wrote that the measure “came at the request of Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell, is not in response to any specific heightened threat. It is a process that enables various law enforcement agencies to work together more efficiently. For example, agencies from multiple jurisdictions can be mobilized, if necessary, without bureaucratic delays.”
The University of Florida released a video addressing Spencer’s impending speech…
The person in the video says, “Although UF leadership has denounced Spencer’s white supremacist rhetoric, the University, as a state entity, must allow the free expression of all viewpoints. “Despite not being invited by the University of Florida, National Policy Institute’s President Richard Spencer is scheduled to speak on October 19 on campus.”
According to the Miami Herald, “UF policy stipulates that any outside organization can rent space on campus. Spencer’s request was initially denied for what UF called safety concerns following the death of a counter-protester in Charlottesville, Virginia in September.”
University of Florida President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement, “For the record, I don’t stand behind racist Richard Spencer. I stand with those who reject and condemn Spencer’s vile and despicable message.”
