Far-Right Blogger Lucian Wintrich Says He Has Jewish Roots—Like His Friend Milo

By Sam Kestenbaum November 29, 2017

A far-right blogger and conspiracy theorist was arrested Tuesday night after he grabbed a woman who protested his speech at the University of Connecticut, the New York Times reported.

Lucian Wintrich, the Washington correspondent for the conspiracist website The Gateway Pundit, chased the protester through a lecture hall after she appeared to grab a document from the podium. Wintrich’s speech, which was titled “It’s OK To Be White,” was organized by the College Republicans and heavily protested by students and local activists.

Wintrich is part of a cadre of online provocateurs who have risen over the last year, moving in the same orbit as the white nationalist “alt-right.” Wintrich collaborated with Milo Yiannopoulos in a pro-Trump photoshoot of gay men, titled “Twinks for Tump.”

Try and beat this mug shot, I dare ya ?? https://t.co/kTFdnPjTxt pic.twitter.com/JOEbroY4rp

— Lucian B. Wintrich (@lucianwintrich) November 29, 2017

Like Yiannopoulos, Wintrich sometimes speaks about having Jewish roots. He defended his use of the “alt-right” Pepe the Frog icon to the New York Times in February, claiming that using the symbol did not make him an anti-Semite. “My grandfather is Jewish,” Wintrich said then. “He fought against the Germans, escaped through the Polish underground.”

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

Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.

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