Richard Spencer considers suspending speaking tour amid violence

White nationalist leader Richard Spencer could suspend his controversial speaking tour as violence continues to break out at his events.

“When they become violent clashes and pitched battles, they aren’t fun,” Spencer said, USA Today reported.

“I don’t inspire any kind of violence … until the situation changes, we are up a creek without a paddle.”

His comments come after Michigan State University police arrested two dozen people in a fracas ahead of a Spencer speech earlier this months. Spencer’s actual speech drew only a small audience, with pictures of the meager turnout inspiring ridicule from Spencer’s detractors.

Spencer also said in a series of tweets posted over the weekend that the idea of his college tour was meant to engage with students and the community, not to have “pitched battles.”

“Antifa has escalated; they are nasty; and the police aren’t policing them properly. We have to recalibrate and find a model that works,” he tweeted.

“I don’t have any definitive answers at the moment. But we will find a way. The Alt-Right must continue to interface with the public. That said, the forces against us are tremendous.”

Long story, short: The college tour idea was to engage with students and community, not have pitched battles. Antifa has escalated; they are nasty; and the police aren’t policing them properly. We have to recalibrate and find a model that works.

— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) March 11, 2018

In advance of Spencer’s appearance, an estimated 500 people, both Spencer sympathizers and protesters, gathered outside the venue on the university’s campus.

Videos posted online showed demonstrators violently clashing with each other and with police. Law enforcement said that those arrested could face misdemeanor or felony charges.

Spencer is a highly controversial figure and often draws massive crowds of both protesters and supporters.

The alt-right leader helped organize the “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last summer where one counterprotester was killed. A man with ties to white supremacist groups has been charged with murder in the case.