Purported League of the South Member Among Those Arrested at Auburn Protests
After an 11th-hour injunction required Auburn University to uphold a contract allowing Richard Spencer to speak at the school’s Foy Hall on April 18, protesters and supporters descended on the small, college town, resulting in several small scuffles and altercations. When the dust settled, three had been arrested for misdemeanor violence, one of whom the neo-Confederate League of the South (LOS) is claiming as a member.
Spencer had previously paid $700 to reserve a stage to speak at Foy. Amid fears that the backlash against Spencer would endanger its student population, Auburn University reneged on the contract last Friday, which left the University vulnerable to an injunction filed by Spencer and an LOS-affiliate and attorney Sam Dickson, who were aided by Kyle Bristow’s Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas (FMI).
When U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins ruled on Tuesday afternoon that Auburn must allow Spencer to use the space per contract, Spencer and his cohort crowed victory for “free speech.” Although the incident was an embarrassment for University administration, the ruling likely avoided greater violence at the conflict as Spencer had announced his intention to speak openly on campus if the venue could not be secured.
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