#NoNazisAtUF: Lessons for the Struggles Ahead

GAINESVILLE, Florida — The University of Florida and the surrounding community came out in force Thursday, October 19th, to show Richard Spencer and his cadre of white nationalists that white supremacy would not be given a safe place in our state. Before the sun set, cowardly fascists would flee the wrath of UF, Spencer would decry the “free speech” event attendees as “babies” for speaking over him, and Tyler Eugene Tenbrink—accompanied by William Henry Fears and Colton Jean Fears—would shoot at protesters on the corner of 34th and Archer. Self-defense, community organizing, and mutual aid remain our only hope for a future without masters, for a world built on a foundation of liberty, equality, and solidarity.

School spirit.

At the request of local organizers in Gainesville, we adopted a broad-based strategy to build popular support for the day’s resistance. Learning from the lessons of Auburn, Boston, and Berkeley, we eschewed the black bloc tactic in order to show community members that we were just like them: average, angry human beings with hearts that burned for justice. We say this in order to explain that while the black bloc can be an immensely strategic resource, at times it can also alienate the local populace. Tactically, we must be good listeners and show solidarity to our comrades who understand their communities more intimately than we ever could. By being responsive to community organizers’ desires, we can build broad-based movements that are inviting to sympathetic liberals and progressives while simultaneously being effective and militant in deplatforming fascist and racist organizers.

Some street art on 34th.

“A particularly memorable occasion involved a local skinhead who’s been known in the community for instigating violence. After sieg heiling several times, calling people of color racial slurs, and referring to the protesters as “animals,” he was dealt a rather ferocious blow that has taken the internet by storm.”

Throughout the day, anti-fascists chased Richard Spencer’s supporters away from the event. A particularly memorable occasion involved a local skinhead who’s been known in the community for instigating violence. The Nazi punk marched into the protest zone, decked out in scarlet suspenders and a white shirt littered with hand-drawn swastikas. After sieg heiling several times, calling people of color racial slurs, and referring to the protesters as “animals,” he was dealt a rather ferocious blow that has taken the internet by storm. Anti-fascists proceeded to chase the skinhead from the scene, as blood drizzled from his nose and he wore his self-satisfied smirk. When we reached the edge of the “designated protest zone”—an area in which a wide arrange of materials were “banned” from entry—the militarized police force pulled out tear-gas launchers and loaded up rubber bullets, ordering us to disperse.

Richard Spencer was consistently drowned out by the fury of protesters, who managed to weasel their way into the event and organize a series of chants like, “Fuck you, Spencer!” and “Go home, Spencer!” Despite the fact that Identity Evropa members stood at the gates, despite the fact that Spencer’s National Policy Institute was given full control of ticket distribution and were even allowed to decide which journalists were permitted to attend the “free speech” event, local organizers ensured that the crowd inside the event was overwhelmingly populated by anti-fascist demonstrators who proceeded to silence Spencer and his crooked cronies, Mike “Enoch” Penovich and Eli Mosley.

"F– you, Spencer" chant takes over as he is introduced. "Thank you for coming," he says. #SpencerAtUF pic.twitter.com/XIYY7trQjB

— Claire McNeill (@clairemcneill) October 19, 2017

Spencer decried the crowd on several occasions, saying we’d, “Intimidated people who wanted to be here…unlike you childish antifa.” Unable to get scarcely a word in, Spencer was forced to end his event early. Although $500,000 had been spent on security for his event, in trademark fashion, Spencer threw a tantrum saying, “Do you not want to hear something, poor little babies?”

Spencer just bitching & whining at protesters now. $500,000 in university money to do this. #SpencerAtUF pic.twitter.com/z4hYqkMZGT

— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) October 19, 2017

Cutting through the rumors and misinformation thrown about in the lead-up to the planned Spencer speech proved difficult. One thing, however, was abundantly clear from the get-go: the fascists were not merely interested in holding a “free speech” rally on a public university campus, they wanted to get a head-start on their campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide by instigating violence. As was reported in the days leading up to Spencer’s event, the fascists had promoted “flash mob” style attacks and demonstrations at community centers. Over half-a-million dollars had been spent on “security,” but that didn’t stop three Nazis from trying to commit murder in broad daylight.

Tyler Eugene Tenbrink

Tyler Eugene Tenbrink, William Henry Fears, and Colton Jean Fears were all chased off campus by anti-fascist demonstrators. We watched as Tenbrink literally threw himself over a barricade to get away from protesters—as has become yet another overnight internet phenomenon. We watched, with many others, as he was told that he would either have to return to the designated “free speech” zone or he would be “arrested.” Tenbrink chose “arrest.” We watched as the police clapped him in handcuffs and escorted him from the premises. People cheered, likely because they did not know, as the adage goes, “Cops and klan go hand-in-hand.”

Because the police released Tenbrink…then he and his Nazi buddies went to try and shoot some protesters.

William Henry Fears

Colton Jean Fears

“The Nazis sieg hieled, shouted about Adolf Hitler, and Tenbrink hopped out with a gun as the Fears brothers shouted “Shoot them!” One shot was fired, then the Nazis fled.”

On the corner of Archer and 34^th, Tenbrink and the Fears Brothers drove up in a silver jeep to a number of demonstrators who held anti-Nazi signs. The Nazis sieg heiled, shouted about Adolf Hitler, and Tenbrink hopped out with a gun as the Fears brothers shouted “Shoot them!” One shot was fired, then the Nazis fled.

Now, more than ever, we must begin to organize in self-defense. These fascists and white supremacists are not merely organizing to defend the “First Amendment.” This is the thin veil they hide behind, hoping to win sympathy from liberals and conservatives across the traditional political spectrum. The true intentions they harbor are for ethnic cleansing and genocide, a campaign of hatred and violence against people of color, queer folks, trans* folks, Muslims, and other marginalized communities. They’re motivated by fear. Fear that the global paradigm of white, heteronormative patriarchy is crumbling all around them. Rather than join with us to face our common enemy—the State and all its corporate powers—they’ve chosen to become the lap-dogs and boot-lickers of oligarchs.

We have a choice. We can, as New York Times op-eds and university presidents insist, simply “ignore” the fascist creep, hope that if we bury our heads in the sand, white nationalists and neo-Nazis will simply “go away.” Or we can take back our streets, like the people of Gainesville, and organize our communities in mutual aid and self-defense. We carry a better world in our heads and hearts. Let’s start building it right here, right now.

Stay wild.