White supremacist Spencer doesn't want his views linked with Whitefish

KEILA SZPALLER keila.szpaller@missoulian.com Updated 7 hrs ago

Richard Spencer seeks prominence for his National Policy Institute – but he said Wednesday he doesn't want the spotlight on the mountain city of Whitefish because of his own white nationalist platform. ... And he said he didn't believe a proposed armed march through Whitefish, touted by a white supremacist website, would happen next month. ... "I didn't move to Whitefish for politics. I don't take part in local (Whitefish) politics," said Spencer, who has said he's considering running for Congress if U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's Interior secretary. ... Spencer, head of the institute "dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States," has been in the midst of an anti-Semitic firestorm – and ensuing pushback – in Montana since Trump's election.

Last week, a website called The Daily Stormer with a tab called "The Jewish Problem" asked readers to "TAKE ACTION" against Jewish people in Whitefish. A post claimed the "vicious, evil race" had harmed the business interests of Spencer's mother and were harassing her, and it posted pictures of people in town and urged an internet "troll storm" against them. ... Some of the Whitefish residents named as targets are involved in Love Lives Here, a group that fights ethnic, racial, gender and religious discrimination.

The Daily Stormer said an armed march, with "skinheads bused in from California," would take place in Whitefish the second week in January. Wednesday, it said interest from representatives of "at least three European nations" in attending the march showed support for "global white racial solidarity against the international Jewish agenda." ... Spencer, though, said he didn't believe such an event would take place: "There's not going to be a pogrom in Whitefish. It's just ridiculous to think that."
....

Spencer said he does not consider the phrase white supremacy – "a scare word," he said – a euphemism for white nationalism, and he does not intend to back down from people affiliated with Love Lives Here, including rabbis. ... "I'm not going to obey them, and just the notion that they are trying to run me out of town is ridiculous," Spencer said. "And I'm not going to do anything at their behest. Anything. ... "I might stay here to piss them off. I'm dead serious."