Richard B. Spencer

Richard B. Spencer
Spencer in 2016
Born (1978-05-11) May 11, 1978[1]
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationSt. Mark's School of Texas
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Author, publisher
Known for
Political partyIndependent
Movement
Spouse
Nina Kouprianova
​
​
(m. 2010; div. 2018)​
Children2

Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 11, 1978)[2] is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist,[3] and white supremacist.[4][5] Spencer claimed to have coined the term "alt-right" and was the most prominent advocate of the alt-right movement from its earliest days.[4][6] He advocates for the reconstitution of the European Union into a white racial empire, which he believes will replace the diverse European ethnic identities with one homogeneous "White identity".[7][8][9]

Spencer has advocated for the enslavement of Haitians by whites and for the ethnic cleansing of the racial minorities of the United States,[10] additionally expressing admiration for the political tactics of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell.[11][12] He was a featured speaker at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, among other neo-Nazi rallies that he has headlined.[13]

Spencer has repeatedly used Nazi gestures and rhetoric in public. In early 2016, Spencer was filmed giving the Nazi salute in a karaoke bar, and leaked footage also depicts Spencer giving the Sieg Heil salute to his supporters during the August 2017 Charlottesville rally.[14] After Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Spencer urged his supporters to "party like it's 1933," the year Hitler came to power in Germany.[15] In the weeks following, Spencer quoted Nazi propaganda and denounced Jews.[16] At a conference Spencer held celebrating the election, Spencer cried: "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!"; subsequently, Mike Enoch led a number of Spencer's supporters in performing a Nazi salute and a chant similar to the Sieg Heil chant.[17][18] In early-to-mid-2017, when Spencer's following was at its height, his supporters would give him the Sieg Heil salute when he entered a room.[19]

Following the Unite the Right rally, Spencer has been involved in several legal issues. After the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, during which an alt-right supporter drove a car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring at least 19 others,[20][21][22] Spencer was sued as part of Sines v. Kessler for allegedly acting as a "gang boss" and inciting the killing.[23][24] On November 23, 2021, the jury found Spencer liable on two counts and were unable to reach verdicts for another two, awarding $25 million in total damages.[25][26] Three supporters of Spencer were charged with attempted homicide following his October 2017 speech at the University of Florida.[27] Following an appeal by the Polish government, he was banned from the Schengen Area in 2018,[28][29] having been banned previously in 2014 after being deported from Hungary.[30][31][32]

Spencer largely ceased to be an effective leader of the alt-right movement after March 2018, following violence outside a Michigan State University event where he was speaking.[33]

Spencer has frequently contradicted his own previous statements about his beliefs and ideals; in one text exchange in 2022, he told a journalist that he "no longer identifies as a white nationalist."[34][35][36][37] As of 2024, he was still operating the web-based white nationalist publication Radix Journal.[33]

  1. ^ @RichardBSpencer (November 2, 2023). "Within me are four souls" (Tweet). Retrieved November 6, 2023 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Eguiliz, Laura (January 23, 2017). "El líder racista de "Poder Blanco" es golpeado en plena calle" [The racist leader of "White Power" is punched in the street]. TikiTakas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  3. ^
    • Bryant, Nick (June 6, 2024). The Forever War: America's Unending Conflict with Itself – the history behind Trump and JD Vance. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-3994-0932-2. The term 'alternative right' was first coined in 2009 by the neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist Richard B. Spencer, and combined anti-Semitism, nativism, anti-feminism, white nationalism, a belief in the mass deportation of all non-white immigrants and the repatriation of the descendants of enslaved people.
    • Berger, Ronald J. (December 1, 2023). Sociology and the Holocaust: A Discipline Grapples with History. Taylor & Francis. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-003-81416-0. The term alt-right was coined by Richard Spencer, an American neo-Nazi, White supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist
    • Kingsbury, Damien (April 7, 2023). The Rise and Decline of Modern Democracy. Taylor & Francis. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-000-86360-4. The 'alt.right' refers to a loosely connected 'big tent' group of radical Right ideologies including 'white nationalism' as expressed by white supremacist, neo-Nazi and antisemitic conspiracy theorist Richard Spencer in his 2010 'The Alternative Right' web-based magazine.
  4. ^ a b Bar-On 2019, p. 225: "Spencer has been dubbed a 'neo-Nazi', 'White supremacist', and 'ethnic nationalist'."
  5. ^ Further sources:
  6. ^ *Peoples, Steve (July 24, 2016). "Energized White supremacists cheer Trump convention message". Cleveland, Ohio: Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Harkinson-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference May-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Radix Journal-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Holt, Jared (May 14, 2018). "Richard Spencer: U.S. Military Should Have Enslaved Haitians After Hurricane Instead Of Providing Relief". Right Wing Watch. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  11. ^ Miller, Michael E. (December 16, 2018). "The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  12. ^ *"White Nationalists' Enthusiasm For Trump Cools". NPR. January 13, 2017. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference NBC 29-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Bernstein, Joseph (October 5, 2017). "Here's How Breitbart And Milo Smuggled White Nationalism Into The Mainstream". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  15. ^ Cox, John Woodrow (November 22, 2016). "'Let's party like it's 1933': Inside the alt-right world of Richard Spencer". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  16. ^ Goldstein, Joseph (November 20, 2016). "Alt-Right Exults in Donald Trump's Election With a Salute: 'Heil Victory'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  17. ^ Bradner, Eric (November 22, 2016). "Alt-right leader: 'Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!'". CNN. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  18. ^ Goldstein, Joseph (November 20, 2016). "Alt-Right Gathering Exults in Trump Election With Nazi-Era Salute". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  19. ^ Andrew Marantz (2019). Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation, pp. 330–331
  20. ^ Almasy, Steve; Croffie, Kwegyirba; Park, Madison (August 15, 2017). "Teacher describes Charlottesville suspect as Nazi sympathizer". CNN. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  21. ^ Wilson, Jason; Helmore, Edward; Swaine, Jon (August 12, 2017). "Charlottesville: man charged with murder after car rams counter-protesters at far-right event". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017.
  22. ^ "Fields faces 5 additional felony charges related to Aug. 12 fatal crash". The Daily Progress. August 18, 2017. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  23. ^ Smith, David (May 24, 2018). "Richard Spencer acted like gang boss, Charlottesville conspiracy trial hears". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  24. ^ "Lawyers Sue White Supremacists Over Charlottesville Violence". NPR. March 16, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Silverman-2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ "US jury awards $25m in damages over Unite the Right rally". BBC News Online. November 23, 2021. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  27. ^ Hayden, Michael Edison (October 27, 2017). "A planning document for an alt-right event in Florida shows links to an attempted murder suspect". Newsweek. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  28. ^ "Poland to Richard Spencer: keep out". The Guardian. Associated Press. October 27, 2017. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  29. ^ Thorpe, Nick (October 7, 2014). "Far right holds secret congress in Hungary". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  30. ^ Bar-On 2019, p. 228.
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gelin-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pintér-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ a b "'Unite the Right' 5 Years Later: Where Are They Now?". Southern Poverty Law Center. August 11, 2022. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024. Answering a request for comment, Spencer confirmed to Hatewatch what researchers already sensed about him. He said that he pulled back from the [alt-right] movement in 2018, after the Michigan State event.
  34. ^ Bassett, Laura (June 14, 2022). "Richard Spencer Listed Himself on Bumble as Politically 'Moderate'". Jezebel. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  35. ^ Ankel, Sophia (June 15, 2022). "Richard Spencer disavowed white nationalism after being spotted on Bumble describing himself as a moderate, report says". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  36. ^ Tait, Joshua (August 11, 2023). "What Was the Alt-Right?". Tablet. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  37. ^ Banda, Kevin K.; Cluverius, John (July 2023). "White Americans' Evaluations of the Alt-Right". American Politics Research. 51 (4): 435–442. doi:10.1177/1532673X231157398. ISSN 1532-673X.
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