Reuters | The Wider Image A neo-Nazi in the midst of a protest By Shannon Stapleton, reuters.com, Ga
Reuters | The Wider Image A neo-Nazi in the midst of a protest By Shannon Stapleton, reuters.com, Gainesville, Florida, October 21, 2017.On the morning of October 17, two days before Richard Spencer, an avowed white nationalist and spokesman for the so-called alt-right, was to speak at the University of Florida, my wife asked if I had heard anything about it.I had just returned from assignments on Barbuda and Puerto Rico, which were wrecked by hurricanes.In August, rallies by white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, had led to a deadly clash with counter-protesters. I contacted my editors and asked for the Florida assignment.The evening before the speech, I walked around the Gainesville campus. All seemed calm; there were no protests. The area was blanketed by police because Florida’s governor had declared a state of emergency to try to prevent violence.Early the next day there was a light presence from both sides. I met a self-proclaimed white nationalist named Tyler Tenbrink from Texas and photographed him. Later, he and two others were arrested on charges of attempted homicide in an altercation with protesters after Spencer’s speech.Read more on the Reuters | The Wider Image web site. -- source link