White Nationalist Richard Spencer Punched In Face Live During Interview

Alt-right activist Richard Spencer was sucker punched while interviewing with the Australian Broadcast Corporation in D.C. near Donald Trump‘s inauguration.

RICHARD SPENCER PUNCHED DURING INTERVIEW

Spencer was speaking to Washington Bureau Chief Zoe Daniel when a few individuals interrupted. They asked if Spencer was a neo-Nazi, to which he responded in the negative, but they followed up asking why then was he wearing a Pepe the Frog pin on his lapel. The Pepe the Frog meme has become a popular icon to represent anti-Semites and racists, and has even been declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.

As Spencer spoke, a masked person ran by and punched him, before fleeing. There has been no investigation into the assault since Spencer has not pressed charges, though he says he plans to. “I kind of like getting into vigorous back and forth with people who disagree with me, but punching like that just crosses a line – totally unacceptable,” he said.

In November, Spencer led a rally in celebration of Trump’s victory, in which many were seen giving the Nazi salute. “Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!” said Spencer in a video of the event. Since then, he says, his support for Trump has wavered. “I am getting worried that he won’t work on really big important issues like immigration,” Spencer said. “That he’ll get caught up on little things like making fun of people on Twitter.”

While Spencer has denied being a white supremacist, the evidence is there saying he is. In a Dec. 2106 interview, he said, “Only white people can support what we call Western civilization.” He also hopes for what he calls a “peaceful ethnic cleansing,” in which he imagines all individuals not of European descent would voluntarily leave the United States.