White nationalist Richard Spencer blames violent protesters for small crowd at MSU

EAST LANSING - Close to 500 people protested outside the Michigan State University Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education as white nationalist Richard Spencer spoke on Monday.

There were around three dozen attendees inside, mostly white men, ranging from clean-cut and college-aged to bearded Baby Boomers.   

Spencer said more would have attended had they not been intimidated by the threat of violence. More than 150 tickets for the event were distributed, he said.

“No other group is treated with this kind of hostility,” Spencer said, early on in his speech. “It is only us. Precisely because we’re white. We’re the only ones showing the real crisis in modern America today. There is a silent war going on.”

More:Fistfights, arrests erupt at Michigan State University before Richard Spencer takes stage

Spencer – dressed in a three-button brown suit – recounted the rise of what has come to be known as the alt-right in 2016 and its transformation from a group of people spreading memes online to a real-life movement. He called for the creation of a “deep state” for like-minded individuals and for more leaders and groups to share their white nationalist views publicly.

“Whites are becoming a minority in the United States quickly even if all immigration was miraculously shut down tomorrow,” Spencer said.

The alt-right is a political offshoot of conservatism that incorporates racist beliefs into its rhetoric. Spencer has advocated for the creation of a white nation and has criticized democracy and equality in past statements.

While Spencer supported U.S. President Donald Trump during the 2016 election, he said he’s been let down by Trump’s moves toward the traditional GOP platform. On immigration, however, he said he admired what Trump tried to do by limiting immigration and thereby preserving the white majority in America.

Asked by a member of the audience what happens to biracial people in a white nation, Spencer demurred, saying it would be worked out when it was an actual reality. He claimed doing so wouldn’t necessarily require violence.

“People who are bold and strong always dominate. We need to be bold and strong.”

The Lansing State Journal was among the media organizations that originally were denied tickets to the event. However, after Spencer tweeted Monday afternoon about tickets being distributed in the parking lot of the Meridian Mall, a State Journal reporter obtained them.

Hundreds of protesters had amassed outside the venue hours before the speech began, carrying signs against Nazism and racial hatred. Fights broke out between protesters and would-be attendees in the leadup to the event. Twenty-five people were arrested, with charges ranging from weapons to hindering and obstructing police, according to MSU Police Cpt. Doug Monette.

William Harper, an Australian visiting the United States, said he was part of a large group trying to get into the venue that was blocked by a wall of anti-fascist protesters.

He tried again and made it in, despite folks trying to hit him and yelling loudly in an effort to damage his eardrums, he said.

Harper said he’s compelled by what he sees as a lack of voice for white people.

“It seems like every other group except whites has advocacy,” he said.

Spencer took audience questions after his speech, which he said had changed because of the violence outside.

“We created this world that’s disintegrating,” Spencer said. “We are going to have to create a new one.”

Eric Lacy contributed to this report. Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.