Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Florida Governor Declares State Of Emergency Ahead Of Richard Spencer Talk

Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Monday in the lead up to a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida.

The governor warned in an executive order that a “threat of a potential emergency is imminent” in Alachua County, where the university is located.

University of Florida officials have urged students to stay away from the rally. Counter protestors, however, are already planning on gathering at the school.

Spencer previously headed the white nationalist think tank the National Policy Institute and helped popularize the term “alt-right” over the last two years. He openly advocates for the creation of a whites-only ethnostate.

This summer Spencer spearheaded a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virgnia, where large crowds chanted “You will not replace us” and “Jews will not replace us.”

Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.