Florida governor declares state of emergency over white supremacist Richard Spencer's speech

The governor of Florida has declared a state of emergency ahead of a speech by far right leader Richard Spencer at the University of Florida later this week.

Rick Scott made the decision to make resources available in case violence were to erupt at the white supremacist’s event.

Spencer, who rose to prominence for being punched at an anti-Trump protest, was involved in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville over the summer which saw neo-Nazis, KKK members and supporters of the so-called “alt-right” descend on the Virginia city.

Tensions between fascists and counter protestors turned deadly after a 20-year-old man, who officials say had Nazi sympathies, deliberately ploughed his car into the crowd of peaceful anti-fascist demonstrators and killed a female civil rights activist.

“This executive order is an additional step to ensure that the University of Florida and the entire community is prepared so everyone can stay safe,” Mr Scott said in a statement.

He added: "I have been in constant contact with Sheriff [Sadie] Darnell who has requested this executive order to ensure that county and local law enforcement have every needed resource”.

While he argued everyone should have the right to express their opinions, he said the state had zero tolerance for violent outbursts and public safety was always the chief priority. Writing in a seven-page executive order, he said the threat of a potential emergency at Spencer's speech in Gainesville was “imminent” and it was necessary to implement a coordinated security plan among local and state agencies before it went ahead.

Spencer, who led a mob of 40 white men in Charlottesville earlier in the month, said the emergency declaration was “flattering” but “most likely overkill”.

Kent Fuchs, the president of the University of Florida, urged students to steer clear of the talk, not provide Spencer with attention and disregard his “message of hate”. He explained he was legally obliged to allow him to speak.

“The values of our universities are not shared by Mr Spencer. Our campuses are places where people from all races, origins, and religions are welcome and treated with love,” he said in a video message this week.

He added: “We refuse to be defined by this event. We will overcome this external threat to our campus and our values”.

The institution rejected a request to rent space made by a group steered by Spencer back in August due to safety concerns. The university has said it would spend some $500,000 on security for Spencer’s forthcoming talk this week.

Charlottesville, an ordinarily peaceful university town, saw Spencer return earlier in the month alongside a group of 40 white men dressed in shirts and khakis bearing tiki torches and gathered around the city’s statue of US Confederate Army General Robert E Lee. This is the third protest which white supremacists have staged this year against the proposed removal of the monument and the crowd was also reportedly chanting “The south will rise again. Russia is our friend. The south will rise again. Woo-hoo! Wooo.”

After the gathering, Spencer hailed its success and urged Charlottesville to prepare for more white supremacist flashmobs.

Charlottesville’s mayor, Mike Signor, condemned the protest, saying: “Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards. You’re not welcome here! Go home! Meantime we’re looking at all our legal options. Stay tuned”.

Spencer, who had his gym membership revoked in May after a college professor accused him of being a neo-Nazi mid workout, prompted fury when he made a number of allusions to Nazi ideology during a speech at a conference in Washington last November.

“Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!” he declared, prompting audience members to leap to their feet in applause, with several appearing to make drawn-out Hitler salutes.

Spencer, who is president of the white nationalist National Policy Institute, is in favour of a white homeland for a “dispossessed white race” and calls for “peaceful ethnic cleansing” to put a stop to the “deconstruction” of European culture.

He once claimed: “Hispanics and African Americans have lower average IQs than whites and are more genetically predisposed to commit crimes.”