Shooting At Richard Spencer’s University of Florida Event
In Richard Spencer’s first appearance since the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, crowds gathered to protest his speech in Gainsville at the University of Florida. After Spencer’s speech a gun shot was fired and three men were later arrested and charged with “firing a deadly weapon with intent to kill”.
The three men allegedly showed up to the event to antagonize those that were protesting Spencer and his inflammatory speech. The three men were allegedly shouting “Hail Hitler” and using the Nazi salute. The situation escalated when the jeep occupied by the three men was struck with a blunt object, the men exited the vehicle and one of them fired a gun shot at a protester. The men promptly reentered their vehicle and fled the scene.
Nothing about this story is surprising other than the fact a video of the incident has not been leaked or uploaded to YouTube (that I am aware of). On the one hand it all makes sense, the crowds protesting Spencer (make sense), the three men antagonizing those crowds (also makes sense even if deplorable), but that is where common sense ends, and stupidity kicks in.
The first stupid action of note is the person that hits the Jeep with a blunt object. That action immediately turns a peaceful protest into a violent altercation. At the very least it was damage to personal property, but on a bigger scale they opened themselves up for retaliation and scrutiny. The three men supporting Spencer and his speech are deplorable, but nothing they had done to that point rose to the level of action that required hitting their car with a blunt object. That was a lack of control and discipline, and also the type of thing that could’ve sparked an even more dangerous turn of events. A fundamental rule of protesting and marching should be, “Keep your hands (and blunt objects) to yourself” unless someone physically threatens your safety.
The second stupid action with rightfully much bigger consequences is the firing of the gun at a protester. This level of stupidity makes me wonder if there shouldn’t be IQ tests for obtaining a weapon. This was 100 times more dangerous than hitting the jeep with a baton, and nearly turned this event into another event like Charlottesville where Heather Heyer lost her life. Had the shooter actually hit his target, who knows what type of metaphorical bomb that would’ve set off with all the racial tension in the air.
Part of me believes Spencer wants violence at his events, I think he hopes his supporters are outnumbered 3 to 1, and they causing enough anger that something “big” happens. He wants to get under the skin of liberals and people of color, and all their supporters in hopes that they lose their cool and someone does something stupid (like hits a car with a baton, or kicks in a window, or starts a fist fight) and that stupid decision sparks a violent confrontation. I believe Spencer knows he has support from Breitbart and Fox News, and that when violence breaks out that can be attributed to the left, Breitbart and Fox will blast it to the conservative masses and Trump’s base, and the racial tension will only grow. This is what Spencer and Breitbart, and those cut from that cloth all want, and the left keeps falling for the trap and giving it to them
Police on Friday arrested three Texas men who were allegedly involved in a shooting that broke out right after white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida.
The Gainesville Police Department said Tyler Tenbrink, 28, William Fears, 30, and Colton Fears, 28, taunted a group of people standing near a bus stop immediately following Spencer’s controversial event on Thursday.
Authorities say the three suspects pulled up to the bus stop about 5:30 p.m. and started shouting “Hail Hitler” at the group while throwing Nazi salutes.
When one of the people in the group used a baton to strike the rear window of the suspects’ Jeep, the three suspects got out and began yelling death threats. Tenbrink fired a single shot at an unidentified victim, which missed, according to authorities. The three then allegedly got back into their Jeep and fled.
All three face felony charges of attempted homicide, police said.
Detectives said Tenbrink “willfully and willingly fired a deadly weapon” with the “intent to kill,” according to his arrest report. Police said he is a convicted felon and faces other charges of possession of a firearm by convicted felon. The other two suspects, who are brothers, allegedly encouraged Tenbrink to shoot and kill the people in the group, the arrest report said.
The three suspects were later caught after the victim had memorized their Jeep’s license plate and alerted authorities. Detectives said Tenbrink admitted to the shooting, according to his arrest report.
At least two of the suspects have “shown connections to extremist groups,” according to the Gainesville Police Department, although it’s unclear which two. All three suspects were in the Alachua County Jail Friday. The Fears brothers are being held under $1 million bond and Tenbrink is under a $3 million bond, police said.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
