Groups clash loudly Thursday prior to a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Several seats vacant; others occupied by those who came to heckle white nationalist at university
GAINESVILLE, FLA. Loud chants of “Say it loud! Say it clear! Nazis are not welcome here!” greeted white nationalist Richard Spencer when he took the stage Thursday for a controversial University of Florida speaking appearance.
Spencer spoke and — eventually — fielded questions from a boisterous audience packed with opponents at Phillips Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Florida.
“I feel sorry for you. Do you know how this is going to be read? Do you think this is going to be read as, ‘Great victory for U of F?’ No,” Spencer told the heckling crowd.
“It’s going to be read as, ‘The University of Florida is filled with childlike Antifa (anti-fascists) who shout at people — as opposed to talking to them,’ ” Spencer said.
Organizers had announced that 700 tickets would be distributed, but numerous seats were
unoccupied across the theater. Hundreds of sign-waving protesters came to the venue.
“Go home, racist, go home!” the crowd chanted at Spencer, standing and shaking fists toward the stage. He repeatedly exchanged barbs with the audience.
“You are attempting to turn your academic community into a stifling place. Is that what you want?” Spencer asked the audience.
Monday, Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Alachua County before the event. Violence marred an alt-right rally in August in Charlottesville, Va., where Heather Heyer was struck by a car and killed.
The campus remained open for classes Thursday, though numerous roads and facilities were shut down. Hundreds of law enforcement officers patrolled the city, and officials blocked roadways, using cement barricades, dump trucks and other large obstacles.
Hundreds of protesters congregated at the ticket distribution site, sparking confusion among those trying to attend.
Inside the venue, crowd outbursts filled much of the event’s opening 20 minutes. Obscene remarks and gestures popped up throughout.
Fielding questions from the audience, Spencer disavowed comparisons to Adolf Hitler. He said he was not responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, and the circumstances of Heyer’s death remain unclear — though the crowd chanted, “It’s your fault!”
Spencer was joined on stage by Eli Mosley, leader of Identity Europa. Mosley likened Spencer’s hecklers to “wild hyenas” who had been “brainwashed by antiwhite propaganda from their professors, from the media.”
“This right here, what you’re doing, is the best recruiting tool for us that you could possibly ever give us,” Mosley said.