WHITEFISH, Mont. — Richard B. Spencer, the most infamous summer resident in this town, once boasted that he stood at the vanguard of a white nationalist movement emboldened by President Donald J. Trump. Things have changed.
“I have bumped into him, and he runs — that’s actually a really good feeling,” said Tanya Gersh, a real estate agent targeted in an antisemitic hate campaign that Andrew Anglin, the founder of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, unleashed in 2016 after Mr. Spencer’s mother made online accusations against Ms. Gersh.
Leaders in Whitefish say Mr. Spencer, who once ran his National Policy Institute from his mother’s $3 million summer house here, is now an outcast in this resort town in the Rocky Mountains, unable to get a table at many of its restaurants. His organization has dissolved. Meanwhile, his wife has divorced him, and he is facing trial next month in Charlottesville, Va., over his role in the deadly 2017 neo-Nazi march there, but says he cannot afford a lawyer.
The turn of events is no accident. Whitefish, a mostly liberal, affluent community nestled in a county that voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 and 2020, rose up and struck back. Residents who joined with state officials, human rights groups and synagogues say their bipartisan counteroffensive could hold lessons for others in an era of disinformation and intimidation, and in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Hefty1965 on September 5th, 2021 at 20:06 UTC »
Long story short: Whitefish rallied around the idea that a nationalistic outsider targeting one of its citizens was entirely unacceptable. They took action by putting a menorah in all their windows and having community gatherings to rebuke antisemitism in their town. They have effectively ostracized the instigator without stooping to violence and hate speech.
OGPunkr on September 5th, 2021 at 18:43 UTC »
Wow! So many Nazi sympathizers in this comment thread. Loooooo-oo-oo-sers! lol
noah_river on September 5th, 2021 at 17:05 UTC »
Hell yes! These vermin need to know that they can't destroy communities and abuse minorities without a fight!