Richard Spencer's Lawyer Gives University Of Michigan New Deadline For Speech Decision

Lawyer Kyle Bristow tweeted Tuesday evening he accepted a request by the general counsel of the University of Michigan to extend the deadline, for deciding whether they would grant alt-right speaker Richard Spencer a space to speak at the university, to Dec. 8. He also mentioned if a decision is not reached by the specified date, he will sue the university. Bristow represents Cameron Padgett, who is an organizer for Spencer.

The University of Michigan in a meeting Tuesday evening decided they were ready to talk to the representatives of Spencer and take a decision on whether they will let him speak at the university.

The decision came after a Board of Regents public meeting took place at the university. The meeting was the result of a letter sent by Bristow to the president of the university on Nov. 17, containing a lawsuit threatening to sue the university if the space was not granted.

The university president Mark Schissel said in a statement, “After consulting widely with many members of our community, I made the difficult decision to begin discussions with Richard Spencer’s group to determine whether he will be allowed to rent space to speak on the University of Michigan campus. If we cannot assure a reasonably safe setting for the event, we will not allow it to go forward,” according to a report by the Detroit Free Press.

He continued, “Let me be clear. U-M has not invited this individual to our campus, nor is anyone in our community sponsoring him. His representatives made a request to rent space on our campus for him to speak. We are legally prohibited from blocking such requests based solely on the content of that speech, however sickening it is.”

According to the report, he also said he personally “detest” and “reject” Spencer’s views on white nationalism and supremacy. He added the followers of Spencer should be “shunned” by the college community.

Many students did not appreciate the decision taken by the university.

One of the students, Vidhya Aravind said, “Say no to Richard Spencer, if you don’t, be ready to have my blood on your hands.”

Denise Ilitch, a member of the Board of Regent, sided with the students and said, “I fully and adamantly reject the hateful white supremacy espoused by Richard Spencer. I reject his anti-Semitic, racist views and his hate of LGBT citizens as well as many others. Unfortunately, I do not agree with the University of Michigan administration. … I agree with the position of Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Penn State, the University of North Carolina and Auburn University in DENYING his request to speak on their campuses.”

She said the First Amendment and free speech are the “cornerstone” of democracy but concerns about the safety of people remains foremost and added “violence follows” Spencer wherever he goes.

Padgett had requested space from the University of Michigan to hold Spencer's speech on Oct. 27, which was then confirmed by the university on Oct. 31. Padgett also said in an email the dates for the speech are flexible.

However due to a lack of response from the university, Bristow sent a letter along with a lawsuit on Nov. 17, which threatened to sue the university if it did not come to a decision by Nov. 24, Michigan Live reported.

Spencer on Oct. 19 was jeered and greeted with “Go Home Spencer” chants when he went to University of Florida in Gainesville to give a speech, a CNN report stated.

Spencer reportedly replied to the crowd, “I'm not going home, I will stand here all day if I have to.”