White supremacist supporters of Richard Spencer open fire on counter-protesters.
Following
Richard Spencer’s Thursday talk at the University of Florida, a trio of Spencer’s supporters
opened fire just outside Gainesville, Fla., during an altercation with those opposing Spencer’s presence.
According to a
statement from the Gainesville Police Department, Tyler Tenbrink, William Fears, and Colton Fears – all from Texas – were
arrested and charged with attempted homicide.
The 28-year-old Tenbrink, encouraged by the Fears brothers, fired into the crowd during an altercation following Spencer’s speech.
The bullet missed the counter-protesters and struck a nearby building.
While Tenbrink and William Fears, 30, both have criminal records – the former is a convicted felon, while the latter had
previously been convicted of aggravated kidnapping and criminal trespass – both, as Gainesville police said, “have shown connections to extremist groups,” a fact highlighted by both the Anti-Defamation League and ADL researcher Mark Pitcavage.