A leading white nationalist figure has taken root in Whitefish, Montana much to the dismay of the town’s residents, reported Crooks and Liars. Accordingly, some residents have created a collective to run the hatemonger out of town.
Richard Spencer heads the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist (hate) group that used to operate in Washington D.C. but now has set up in Whitefish. Spencer’s presence was made publicly aware after a Daily Beast article described an encounter between Spencer and former John McCain adviser Randy Scheunemann at a ski resort.
Spencer and Scheunemann ended up sharing a ski lift, and when both realized who the other was, Spencer “berated” Scheunemann for “being a neocon and for believing in this whole democracy BS,” reported The Daily Beast.
On Monday, a collective of one hundred citizens called Love Lives Here descended upon the Whitefish City Council chambers. They demanded that the town council pass an ordinance that would ban hate groups from assembling in Whitefish, reported Crooks and Liars.
“We are committed to co-creating a caring, open, accepting, and diverse community, free from discrimination, and dedicated to the equal treatment of all citizens,” said Love Lives Here co-founder Ina Albert. “The idea of hate and discrimination has no place in Whitefish, and I hope you can figure out a way to say, ‘we will not accept it in our town.’”
Whitefish attorney Brian Muldoon also rallied behind Love Lives Here:
This isn’t about one individual, it is about a way of thinking that is despicable. This community I believe is standing up strongly against the kinds of ideas that Richard Spencer and his ilk promotes . . . and it is time to deconstruct the ideas that are so insidious. It is time to take a very clear stance. An unambiguous one.
The town of Whitefish is located in Montana’s Flathead Valley, which has had its share of encounters with the American white nationalist movement. Love Lives Here was formed in 2010 in response to neo-Nazis in the town featured Holocaust-denial films at a local theater.
Spencer deserves to be ran out of town. His fiery brand of racial intolerance should not be tolerated. As America becomes ever more accepting of cultural and racial differences, any shade of hate that could threaten that progress should be illuminated and gotten rid of.
