Spencer says threats of armed march just a ‘joke’

December 28, 2016 at 4:19 pm | By HEIDI DESCH Whitefish Pilot

Richard Spencer says he doesn’t want any negative publicity for Whitefish and that the threats of a neo-Nazi march through the city aren’t actually going to happen.

“I don’t want Whitefish to become the white nationalist {headquarters},” he said Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t want to ruin Whitefish.”

Spencer, who is a part-time resident of Whitefish, is president of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think-tank and publishing firm.

The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi and white supremacist blog, last week announced plans for an organized armed rally in Whitefish in January. The website had previously called for its followers to take “action” and “troll” Whitefish businesses and members of the Jewish community and the Love Lives Here advocacy group. The blog said it would call off the march if certain demands were met. The blog asked for an apology to Sherry Spencer, Richard Spencer’s mother, after she claimed that she was pushed into selling her commercial building downtown over her son’s beliefs.