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Actual Nazi Richard Spencer protested at A&M speaking engagement

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E

EdibleKnife

Member
Tuesday evening Richard Spencer, founder or the alt-right movement, spoke at Texas A&M and was met with both sympathetic white nationalists and protesters.
MIC said:
Richard Spencer, the notorious white nationalist, was met by hundreds of student protesters Tuesday evening during his speaking engagement at Texas A&M University. Police officers, equipped with helmets and protective shields, clashed with protesters who were blocking the banquet hall in College Station, Texas, where Spencer was speaking.

Spencer, credited for founding the alt-right movement, was speaking on white nationalism to a crowd of 400 and credited Donald Trump's presidential win as a victory for white men.

"Whether it's nice to say that or not, we won," Spencer told the audience. "And we got to define what America means. We got to define what this continent means. America, at the end of the day, belongs to white men."

...

Quentin Boothman, a white freshman at the university, silently protested Spencer by standing between him and the audience. According to CNN, Boothman held a poster sign of a gun pointed at Adolf Hitler with text reading "follow your leader."

After Spencer poked and prodded Boothman, Jalen Brown, a black freshman, joined his fellow student in protest and locked arms. Together, in solidarity against hate, the two freshman glared at Spencer, CNN reported.

Soon after, a white nationalist audience member retaliated by standing between Spencer and the freshmen. The standoff between protesters and white nationalists intensified enough to result in police intervention.

A Facebook Live uploaded by Texas A&M senior Hana Zeenath Khan shows police officers clashing with protesters. They are heard chanting "the whole world is watching."

Khan said to Mic she didn't know exactly what prompted the police officers to physically confront protesters. She said all the protesters were unarmed, standing and chanting in protest.

"It's hard to believe," Khan said. "The minute they began pushing back I saw them using the batons and shields. It was shocking that they were actually pushing us. They started screaming, 'Move!' at us and most of us didn't know how to react."

...

Two protesters, neither of them Texas A&M students, were arrested Tuesday. According to local radio station WTAW, one person was charged with felony assault of a public servant, and misdemeanor charges for interfering with public duties and resisting arrest. The other was charged with two misdemeanors: resisting arrest and evading detention. A crowdfunding page by an anarchist group in Houston is raising funds to bail the two protesters out of jail.
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CNN
MIC

I've got little to say about the story beyond the fact that I'm proud people aren't meeting Spencer and his white supremacist ideals and goons with apathy. As white nationalists continue to be or feel vindicated, it's up to citizens who actually believe in equality to push back firmly and unapologetically because the ideas Spencer and his ilk spread are not just unoriginal but deadly. And it's not just opinion since the white nationalist hero found in Hitler and the Nazi party spread and manipulated those same ideals for the sake of supremacy and genocide.

EDIT - 30+ minute interview & 20+ minute podcast for those unfamiliar with Spencer
Paradoxal_Utopia said:
Anyone seen this interview? Fucking amazing. This is what a REAL interviewer does.

https://youtu.be/yr5BQS79H7g
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Reveal Nov 10th 2016 podcast - A frank conversation with a white nationalist

EDIT:

notworksafe said:
Statement from Texas A&M on Spencer appearing, made last month. Took 3 seconds of googling, for those wondering why he was "invited". He wasn't.
http://today.tamu.edu/2016/11/23/no...rsial-speaker-university-officials-emphasize/
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EDIT:
The Lamp said:
http://today.tamu.edu/2016/11/23/no...rsial-speaker-university-officials-emphasize/
They commented on that, with the presidents official response here: http://www.kbtx.com/content/news/AM...t-Announces-Aggie-United-event-403649946.html

They neither invite nor support the man, but as a public university they are not legally allowed to block him from renting a room to speak just because of his views. He only got 400 people and I heard that only 12 of those supported him. The rest were hecklers. The student body as a whole was enraged about the man.

So A&M set up a counter event to protest this Nazi asshole
DNNdfW0h.jpg


and my friend who is in the sociology department at A&M set up their own event to counter the visit as well
bEvhC5Rh.jpg
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A

Admiral Woofington

Member
I'm pretty sure a girl I know was a part of the protest. Should check if she's OK. Good on them to protest. Pretty shitty that even the cops I always thought were fairly mild in college station can also turn into assholes when in situations like these.

This whole "the country belongs to white men" shit. Absolutely gross. If this is your ideology, I can't wait until minorities overpass white people in the country.
 
L

LiquidSword

Member
PBY said:
Wtf why would T A&M allow him to speak?!?
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NPR said it was an alumni that invited him and the same alumni is known for inviting people like this to speak. Fucking disgusting.

Doesn't make sense to me though. Can alumni just invite and schedule a speaker without having to go through the school?
 
H

Hazmat

Member
PBY said:
Wtf why would T A&M allow him to speak?!?
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From the coverage I saw in Houston over Thanksgiving, the area that he spoke at is open to the public and can be reserved by people outside of university staff. Essentially, the university was unable to prevent it from happening, and they seemed to not like that he was there.
 
D

Dierce

Member
These white nationalist mother fuckers infuriate me beyond reason. Not only are they racist bastards unworthy of being consider human beings but they also believe in and perpetuate outright lies that even conservatives should denounce.
 
S

Scirrocco

Member
Embarrased to be an aggie, but proud that so many studentsprotested. Disgusted to learn that he was invited by an alum though

per ny times

Spencer was invited to the campus by university alumnus Preston Wiginton, a prominent white supremacist, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate speech.

"With the Trump election, white people in America have shown concern over political events of immigration and white people being displaced and marginalized," Wiginton said in an interview. "To me, part of Spencer being here is part of that concern."
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/12/06/us/06reuters-texas-nationalist.html?_r=0
 
M

Mahonay

Banned
Admiral Woofington said:
They made a statement that they didn't him schedule him and that someone else had done it, which meant it was out of their hands.
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LiquidSword said:
NPR said it was an alumni that invited him and the same alumni is known for inviting people like this to speak. Fucking disgusting.

Doesn't make sense to me though. Can alumni just invite and schedule a speaker without having to go through the school?
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GoldenEye 007 said:
A&M is a public university. So any space open to the public, can be booked by the public.
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Hazmat said:
From the coverage I saw in Houston over Thanksgiving, the area that he spoke at is open to the public and can be reserved by people outside of university staff. Essentially, the university was unable to prevent it from happening, and they seemed to not like that he was there.
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Something tells me that if it were a Black Panther speaker it would not have "slipped through" the same way that Richard Spencer did. Just saying.

There should be a limit to what you allow on your campus. Outright hate movement speeches should be shutdown once staff gets wind of what's happening. Why he was allowed to encourage people to be literal Nazis is beyond me. It's not just some "alternative views".
 
M

Mammoth Jones

Member
I mean, this guy is a straight up White Supremacist. Why is he on campus. This isn't a normal right wing guy that folks disagree with.

Why is the school allowing him on campus in the first place?
 
D

Dierce

Member
Not said:
"Police?" You mean gestapo
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And people on this very forum say we overreact when we compare orange turd and his cronies to fascists. Just take a look around and tell me we aren't witnessing the rise of fascism, at the very least a growing tolerance to fascists and nazi sympathizers.
 
KonradLaw

KonradLaw

Member
If you need to go to an alt-right panel go see Milo. At least the guy is funny. Spencer is pure trash. Media is giving him way to much attention. Maybe they're desperately trying to counter Trump win, but Spencer is an idiot who had trouble bringing 100 people to a meet up before media crowned him the king of alt-right.
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
“There has been deep concern expressed by our Aggie community about an individual planning to speak at our campus. To be clear, Texas A&M University – including faculty, staff, students and/or student groups – did not invite this speaker to our campus nor do we endorse his rhetoric in any way. In fact, our leadership finds his views as expressed to date in direct conflict with our core values.

”Private citizens are permitted to reserve space available to the public as we are a public university as is the case here. Public groups must cover all rental expenses so that state resources are not burdened. This rental is classified as a “Class 5: non-Texas A&M University-related” use of public space in the school’s events guidelines typically reserved for community events, wedding receptions and local high school events.”
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Statement from Texas A&M on Spencer appearing, made last month. Took 3 seconds of googling, for those wondering why he was "invited". He wasn't.
http://today.tamu.edu/2016/11/23/no...rsial-speaker-university-officials-emphasize/
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Mammoth Jones said:
I mean, this guy is a straight up White Supremacist. Why is he on campus. This isn't a normal right wing guy that folks disagree with.

Why is the school allowing him on campus in the first place?
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When academics take the "let's hear both sides" mantra far too literally. Conservative speakers? Knock yourself out. Actual hate groups? What is academic about their presence on campus?

The entire school administration should be embarrassed. How can you explain their presence on campus to non-white students? Forget safe spaces, how can you tell those students that their isn't open hostility against them on campus?
 
M

Mammoth Jones

Member
notworksafe said:
Statement from Texas A&M on Spencer appearing, made last month. Took 3 seconds of googling, for those wondering why he was "invited". He wasn't.
http://today.tamu.edu/2016/11/23/no...rsial-speaker-university-officials-emphasize/
Click to expand...

So anyone can just walk into the school and give a presentation? The school has no right to say "nah, we kinda don't want you here. You're not a student."?

Sho_Nuff82 said:
When academics take the "let's hear both sides" mantra far too literally. Conservative speakers? Knock yourself out. Actual hate groups? What is academic about their presence on campus?

The entire school administration should be embarrassed. How can you explain their presence on campus to non-white students? Forget safe spaces, how can you tell those students that their isn't open hostility against them on campus?
Click to expand...

I mean on the subject on White supremacy there shouldn't be a "both sides" narrative. How the fuck this is ok with the school is beyond me.
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Mammoth Jones said:
So anyone can just walk into the school and give a presentation? The school has no right to say "nah, we kinda don't want you here. You're not a student."?
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Anyone can pay money to book public space in this instance, yes.

EDIT: At least the examples of weddings and high school events seem to imply so. In New Mexico, I have booked a public space for my wedding next year. This isn't uncommon.
 
M

Mammoth Jones

Member
notworksafe said:
Anyone can pay money to book public space in this instance, yes.

EDIT: At least the examples of weddings and high school events seem to imply so.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression this took place on campus. The campus has zero ability to say "nah, we don't want that shit here"? None?
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Scirrocco said:
Fucking embarassed to be an Aggie today. My ring is staying off for a while.
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Mahonay said:
Something tells me that if it were a Black Panther speaker it would not have "slipped through" the same way that Richard Spencer did. Just saying.

There should be a limit to what you allow on your campus. Outright hate movement speeches should be shutdown once staff gets wind of what's happening. Why he was allowed to encourage people to be literal Nazis is beyond me. It's not just some "alternative views".
Click to expand...
Come the fuck on guys. The university didn't like him there and the campus isn't going to be pro white supremacy all of a sudden.

It was out of their hands. There's nothing that could be done about it.
 
T

The Kree

Banned
"Whether it's nice to say that or not, we won," Spencer told the audience. "And we got to define what America means. We got to define what this continent means. America, at the end of the day, belongs to white men."

Economic anxiety makes people say the craziest things.
 
N

necrosis

Member
KonradLaw said:
If you need to go to an alt-right panel go see Milo. At least the guy is funny. Spencer is pure trash. Media is giving him way to much attention. Maybe they're desperately trying to counter Trump win, but Spencer is an idiot who had trouble bringing 100 people to a meet up before media crowned him the king of alt-right.
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or don't go to see any alt-righters because they are all human refuse
 
M

Mahonay

Banned
Admiral Woofington said:
Come the fuck on guys. The university didn't like him there and the campus isn't going to be pro white supremacy all of a sudden.

It was out of their hands. There's nothing that could be done about it.
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There's not a chance in hell someone in the university didn't hear what was happening once he started his event. There is no reason this should have been allowed to carry out in it's entirety.
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Mammoth Jones said:
I was under the impression this took place on campus. The campus has zero ability to say "nah, we don't want that shit here"? None?
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I'm poking around at their rules/regulations as far as renting space and they don't mention anything special as far as restrictions. Seems the same as the place I rented for my wedding. I assume since it is a public space and it is a public university they can't put a restriction on speech in the rented venue as long as it is not some sort of illegal event.

EDIT: There is a restriction on politically campaigning or mass handing out flyers but that is it.

Candidates running for political office, both student and non-student may casually visit with students, personnel or other patrons in the Student Center to solicit votes. Distributing campaign literature or cards are prohibited on campus.

In accordance with the Texas A&M University System policy (07.03.01) with regard to political campaign events “the state supported institution of higher education and its members are required to remain neutral in partisan political activities. No system member may endorse, or recommend or otherwise indicate partisan
political support for any candidate for an elected office or for any current officeholder of such an office.
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Q

Quixzlizx

Member
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Mammoth Jones said:
So anyone can just walk into the school and give a presentation? The school has no right to say "nah, we kinda don't want you here. You're not a student."?



I mean on the subject on White supremacy there shouldn't be a "both sides" narrative. How the fuck this is ok with the school is beyond me.
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If they want to lose a first amendment case I guess.
 
L

Late Flag

Member
PBY said:
Wtf why would T A&M allow him to speak?!?
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It's a straightforward first amendment issue. If they allow people from the public to stage speaking events, as a public institution they can't discriminate based on the content of the speech. (The technical term for that is "prior restraint").

As a private university, Baylor, for example, could ban this fellow from campus. Texas A&M can't.
 
K

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Dierce said:
And people on this very forum say we overreact when we compare orange turd and his cronies to fascists. Just take a look around and tell me we aren't witnessing the rise of fascism, at the very least a growing tolerance to fascists and nazi sympathizers.
Click to expand...

As it is said, history doesn't always repeat, but it often rhymes.

People remain willfully ignorant because fascism doesn't always present itself in exactly the same way. Nazi Germany was only one expression of aryan fascism, and the same core beliefs and fascist concepts never went away.

Trump and white nationalists don't guarantee we'll see the same scenario as the Nazi regime. But there's plenty of lasting damage their beliefs can create. They can shift the perception of white Americans even further in the direction of excusing oppression and brutality directed against minorities by normalizing the rhetoric and appearance of Literal Nazis. When evil is made presentable and aesthetic in public space, those who oppose it openly can be painted as criminals violating the public peace. The right wing has already firmly established the language of framing anyone who protests them as thugs and miscreants. (Which dovetails nicely with the latent bigotry of society since the people most likely to protest them won't be white people.)

The next logical step is making naked nationalist fascism and white supremacy politic and a normal, unremarkable part of public discourse. Then anyone who calls it outrageous may be branded as a censor trying to keep "the other side" from being allowed to speak fairly. This is the alt-right, or alt-reich, tactic which they've already established in their alternative news ecosystem. Now they're eager to take it mainstream.
 
B

blackflag

Member
Some of you haven't read the thread.

The university gets public funding.

They are required to set aside space for the public to speak.

Since they receive govt. funding the 1st amendment is at play

Guy is fucking disgusting and I hope he has an accident soon.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Come the fuck on guys. The university didn't like him there and the campus isn't going to be pro white supremacy all of a sudden.

It was out of their hands. There's nothing that could be done about it.
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"Sorry, that date and all future dates are full up for an engagement of that size."

"Sorry, we reserve the right to refuse service to customers for any reasons."

"Sorry, we reserve the right to refund a fully paid deposit within X days of the actual event."

"Sorry, we believe that this event serves as a personal safety risk for students on our campus and falls outside of the scope of events we are permitted to host on the premises."

"No."

These are the kind of stonewalls that other groups have faced for decades trying to get a foothold in higher education. If they cared enough, they would stop it. They don't.
 
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