Friday 19 / April / 2024
Michigan: Fistfights near Michigan State University broke out Monday, March 6, in the latest clash between supporters of alt-right leader Richard Spencer and those protesting his white supremacist views.
Spencer's speech at the university went ahead, but not before a protest erupted as about 40 backers of Spencer were met by about 500 demonstrators.
Spencer, an outspoken supporter of Trump during the 20-16 campaign, rose out of relative obscurity after widely circulated videos showed some Trump supporters giving Nazi-style salutes to him during a gathering in Washington to celebrate the Republican candidate's electoral win. Trump condemned the meeting.
It's not the first time a protest like this has broken out. In October, Florida declared a state of emergency to guard against violence between Spencer's supporters and hundreds of protesters as Spencer gave a speech at the University of Florida in Gainsville.
Two months before that, a 20-year-old man said to harbour Nazi sympathies drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters after white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing a 32-year-old woman.
On Monday, at least a dozen people were arrested, including the director of operations for Spencer's organisation the National Policy Institute.
