Not long ago, Richard Spencer had the media at his fingertips. As the figurehead of the burgeoning “alt-right” movement, Spencer had managed to market his brand of hipster neo-Nazism to a huge segment of young white men who blended their racist ideology with their support of Donald Trump. Now, he’s begging his followers for money.
In a video posted to his YouTube account, Spencer starts out by telling viewers, “I am under attack, and I need your help.” What he’s referring to is the federal lawsuit filed against him, in which plaintiffs are seeking damages for the emotional and physical trauma incurred during last year’s violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacist groups and counter-protesters clashed.
Spencer was having trouble finding a lawyer willing to represent him, but as Right Wing Watch points out, he finally found one and needs donations to cover the fees.
“Some of the biggest and baddest law firms in the United States are suing me, along with some other prominent figures, in civil court,” Spencer says in the video.
According to him, the lawsuit is a “a conspiracy theory in the truest sense of that term” intended to “take down the alt-right’s most prominent spokesman—that is me.”
“I am under attack. Losing this case would be catastrophic for our movement, for everyone engaged is dissident politics, to be honest,” Spencer said.
Legal troubles are just the tip of the iceberg for Spencer’s movement. For months now, he’s watched his various endeavors fail. His nationwide speaking tour was a bust after no one showed up, forcing him to end it early. After white supremacist-oriented sites like Hatreon collapsed, Spencer turned to more traditional fundraising sites like Patreon, which ultimately kicked him off too.
As of this writing, his legal defense fund has raised a little over $12,000.
Watch the video below:
Update: The initial fundraising campaign Spencer posted raised over $12,000. For some reason, he took that campaign down and started a new one, which is stuck at $265 because the campaign has been paused for unknown reasons.
Featured image via screen grab
