Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 11, 1978)[2] is an American political commentator mostly known for his neo-Nazi, antisemitic and white supremacist views.[3][4] Spencer claimed to have coined the term "alt-right" and was the most prominent advocate of the alt-right movement from its earliest days.[3][5] 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".[6][7][8]
Spencer has advocated for the enslavement of Haitians by whites and for the ethnic cleansing of the racial minorities of the United States,[9] additionally expressing admiration for the political tactics of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell.[10][11] 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.[12]
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.[13] 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.[14] In the weeks following, Spencer quoted Nazi propaganda and denounced Jews.[15] 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.[16][17] 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.[18]
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,[19][20][21] Spencer was sued as part of Sines v. Kessler for allegedly acting as a "gang boss" and inciting the killing.[22][23] 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.[24][25] Three supporters of Spencer were charged with attempted homicide following his October 2017 speech at the University of Florida.[26] Following an appeal by the Polish government, he was banned from the Schengen Area in 2018,[27][28] having been banned previously in 2014 after being deported from Hungary.[29][30][31]
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.[32]
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."[33][34][35][36] As of 2024, he was still operating the web-based white nationalist publication Radix Journal.[32]
Mangan, Katherine (December 9, 2016). "A push to 'expand White privilege': Richard B. Spencer president, National Policy Institute, a White-supremacist group". The Chronicle of Higher Education. p. A6+.
^Cite error: The named reference Slate-WhiteFlight-BudapestConference-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference HungarianGovt-BansRacistConference-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ab"'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.