Editing Richard Spencer

{{Important}}
{{Villain_Infobox
|Image =Richard B. Spencer.jpg
|fullname = Richard Bertrand Spencer
|alias = Richard Spencer<br>Richard B. Spencer
|origin = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S
|occupation = Author<br>  Publisher<br> Public speaker<br>President and director of the National Policy Institute
|skills = Charisma<br>Very high intelligence<br> Eloquence<br>Deception
|goals = To propagate white-supremacist and  alt-right rhetoric (ongoing)
|crimes = [[Xenophobia]]<br>[[Racism]]<br>[[White Power Movement|White Supremacy]]<br>[[Anti-Semitism]]<br>[[Misogyny]]<br>[[Homophobia]]<br>[[Hate speech]]<br>Advocating [[slavery]] and [[ethnic cleansing]]<br>Conspiracy<br>Incitement of racial violence<br>[[Domestic abuse]] (allegedly)
|type of villain = Power Hungry Egotist
}}
{{Quote|As Europeans, we are, uniquely, at the center of history. Think of the concepts that are now designated 'problematic' and associated with whiteness -- power, strength, beauty, agency, accomplishment. Whites do and other groups don’t. For us, it is conquer or die. This is a unique burden for the white man, that our fate is entirely in our hands.|Richard Spencer, November 2016}}
'''Richard Bertrand Spencer''' (born May 11, 1978) is an American [[neo-Nazi]] and [[White supremacy|white supremacist]]. He is president of the [[National Policy Institute]] (NPI), a white supremacist think tank, as well as [[Washington Summit Publishers]]. Spencer rejects the labels white supremacist and neo-Nazi, considers himself a white nationalist, a white [[Identitarianism|identitarian]], and the equivalent of a "Zionist" for white people. A man with a god complex, Spencer created the term "[[Alt-Right]]", which he considers a movement based on "white identity". Spencer advocates white-European unity, a "peaceful ethnic cleansing" of nonwhites from America,<ref>[http://www.npiamerica.org/the-national-policy-institute/blog/facing-the-future-as-a-minority Facing the Future as a Minority], National Policy Institute</ref> and the creation of a "new world order."<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/10/19/richard-spencer-speaks-uf-today-who-he/779206001/ Richard Spencer speaks at University of Florida today. Who is he?], ''USA Today''</ref>

==Biography==
Spencer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of ophthalmologist Rand Spencer and Sherry Spencer (née Dickenhorst), whose family had cotton farms in Louisiana. He grew up in Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas. In 1997, he graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. After graduation, Spencer attended one year of school at Colgate University before transferring to the University of Virginia.

In 2001, Spencer received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Music from the University of Virginia and, in 2003, a Master of Arts in the Humanities from the University of Chicago. He spent the summers of 2005 and 2006 at the Vienna International Summer University. From 2005 to 2007, he was a PhD student at Duke University studying modern European intellectual history, where he was a member of the Duke Conservative Union. His website says he left Duke before completion of his dissertation and degree "to pursue a life of thought-crime".

Spencer has publicly engaged in Nazi rhetoric on many occasions, for which he has been criticized by the political mainstream, as well as by many fellow white nationalists, who believe that Spencer's flamboyant rhetoric and persona marginalize their movement. In early 2016, Spencer was filmed giving the [[Hitler Salute|Nazi salute]] in a karaoke bar.<ref>[https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism Alt-White: How the ''Breitbart'' Machine Laundered Racist Hate], ''Buzzfeed''</ref> After [[Donald Trump]] was elected President, Spencer urged his supporters to "party like it's 1933," a reference to the year in which [[Hitler]] came to power in Germany.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lets-party-like-its-1933-inside-the-disturbing-alt-right-world-of-richard-spencer/2016/11/22/cf81dc74-aff7-11e6-840f-e3ebab6bcdd3_story.html 'Let's party like it's 1933': Inside the alt-right world of Richard Spencer], ''The Washington Post''</ref> In the weeks following the election, at a National Policy Institute conference, Spencer quoted Nazi propaganda and denounced Jews, and he also used the German term Lügenpresse ("lying press") to vilify journalists.<ref name=victory>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/alt-right-salutes-donald-trump.html Alt-Right Exults in Donald Trump's Election With a Salute: 'Heil Victory'], ''The New York Times''</ref> Later, in response to Spencer's cry "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!", a number of his supporters gave the Nazi salute and chanted in a similar fashion to the Sieg Heil chant used at the Nazis' Nuremberg rallies.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/richard-spencer-speech-npi/508379/ 'Hail Trump!': Video of White Nationalists Cheering the President-Elect], ''The Atlantic''</ref> Spencer later called Trump's election "the victory of will", a phrase evoking the title of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935), a Nazi-era propaganda film.<ref name=victory/> Spencer has expressed admiration for the tactics of [[American Nazi Party]] founder [[George Lincoln Rockwell]], who in Spencer's view used "shock [as] a positive means to an end".<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/21/the-shadow-of-an-assassinated-american-nazi-commander-hangs-over-charlottesville/?noredirect=on The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville], ''The Washington Post''</ref> He has also spoken in favor of [[ethnic cleansing]] against non-whites and is a proponent of the [[Northwest Territorial Imperative]],<ref>[https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/richard-bertrand-spencer-0 Richard Spencer], Southern Poverty Law Center</ref> and has advocated enslavement of Haitians by whites.<ref>[https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/richard-spencer-u-s-military-should-have-enslaved-haitians-after-hurricane-instead-of-providing-relief/ Richard Spencer: U.S. Military Should Have Enslaved Haitians After Hurricane Instead Of Providing Relief], ''Right Wing Watch''</ref>

Under oath, Spencer has been accused of repeatedly beating, threatening, and verbally [[Domestic Abuse|abusing]] his ex-wife Nina Kouprianova, who has provided hours of recordings and text messages to the press in order to substantiate her allegations.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/24/white-nationalist-richard-spencer-accused-physically-abusing-wife-throughout-their-marriage/ White nationalist Richard Spencer accused of physically abusing wife throughout their marriage], ''The Washington Post''</ref> According to media reports, the recordings and text messages show, for example, Spencer telling his wife that he will "fucking break [her] nose," encouraging her to commit suicide, and apologizing for previous incidents of physical abuse. Spencer denies the allegations, and he also says that his statement that he will break his wife's nose and his other ostensible threats against her (as recorded on the tapes) were merely expressions of frustration with his wife that were not intended to be interpreted literally.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-spencer-nina-kouprianova-divorce-abuse_us_5c2fc90ee4b0d75a9830ab69 You Should Care That Richard Spencer's Wife Says He Abused Her], ''The Huffington Post''</ref>

Spencer's critics argue that his speech and conduct lead to violence, a charge which he rejects. Spencer was a featured speaker at the August 2017 [[Unite the Right rally]] in Charlottesville, Virginia, during which [[James Alex Fields Jr.|an alt-right supporter]] drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring at least 19 others. Spencer and 23 other individuals and organizations involved in the rally were later sued by nine Charlottesville residents, with the lawsuit alleging that Spencer and others had acted as "gang bosses" who had incited the violence at Charlottesville.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/24/richard-spencer-charlottesville-conspiracy-trial Richard Spencer acted like gang boss, Charlottesville conspiracy trial hears], ''The Guardian''</ref> On November 23, 2021, the court found all defendants liable for civil conspiracy to commit racial violence and found Spencer, [[Jason Kessler]], [[Christopher Cantwell]], [[Elliott Kline]] and [[Robert Ray|Robert "Azzmador" Ray]] liable for race-based harassment or violence.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/charlottesville-trial-verdict-jury-finds-prominent-white-supremacist-leaders-liable-11637698395 Charlottesville Trial Verdict: Jury Finds Prominent White Supremacist Leaders Liable], ''The Wall Street Journal''</ref> Spencer was ordered to pay $700, 000 in damages.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/unite-the-right-lawsuit-charlottesville-b1963126.html Jury awards $25m to victims in 2017 'Unite the Right' assault], ''The Independent''</ref> Another lawsuit saw Spencer and the National Policy Institute ordered to pay $2.4 million in damages to a man who was injured during the Charlottesville attack.<ref>[https://eu.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/05/06/right-wing-think-tank-ordered-pay-ohio-man-hurt-rally-2-4-m/4970318001/ Richard Spencer-led group ordered to pay $2.4 million to Ohio counterprotester struck by car at Charlottesville rally], ''Associated Press''</ref> After three other supporters of Spencer were charged with attempted homicide following Spencer's October 2017 speech at the University of Florida, Ohio State and several other universities cancelled Spencer's appearances, describing his presence as a menace to public safety.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171023075758/http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ohio-state-sued-refusal-white-nationalist-speak-50645877 Ohio State sued over refusal to let white nationalist Richard Spencer speak], ''ABC News''</ref>

The majority of European nations, including the entire Schengen Area and nations with nationalist governments, have banned Spencer and condemned his "racial European" message and his call for a "white racial empire".<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/richard-spencer-ban-european-countries-alt-right-white-supremacist-neo-nazi-eu-a8071971.html Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer 'banned from 26 European countries'], ''The Independent''</ref> While promoting his message in a controversial speaking tour in Hungary, Spencer was mocked by the Hungarian newspaper Népszabadság for his call for "a white Imperium" through a revival of the Roman Empire, and for his claim to be a "racial European", ideas that the newspaper called contrived and without any basis in European history. In the aftermath of the controversy, Hungarian Prime Minister [[Viktor Orbán]] pressed through legislative measures which banned his entry and condemned Spencer. The government of Poland has also banned him from entering the country and condemned Spencer, citing Spencer's Nazi rhetoric, the anti-Polish and anti-Slavic racism of the Nazis, and the Nazis' [[genocide]] of Slavic Untermenschen during [[World War II]]. In July 2018, Spencer was detained at Keflavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland en route to Sweden and was ordered by Polish officials to return to the United States; the successful effort of the Poles to ban Spencer from other parts of Europe arises from the Schengen Agreement.<ref>[https://thinkprogress.org/richard-spencer-is-effectively-barred-from-europe-30b18131d272 Richard Spencer learns about strong borders, barred from European travel], ''ThinkProgress''</ref>

==Trivia==
*Richard Spencer had the qualifications necessary to receive a PhD, but withdrew.
*Richard Spencer was infamously punched in the face by an [[Antifa]] protestor live during an interview during the Unite the Right rally.
*Him along with [[Lauren Southern]] and [[Mike Cernovich]] were the subjects of a 2020 Atlantic Documentary called “White Noise”, which explored the Alt-Right.

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