A man who fired a shot at anti-Nazi protesters following a speech at the University of Florida by white nationalist Richard Spencer has been charged with attempted murder.
Two men who allegedly urged him to shoot face the same charge.
A Gainesville Police Department report released on Friday said that Tyler Tenbrink, 28, William Fears, 30 and his brother, 28-year-old Colton Fears, all from Texas, were arrested on attempted homicide charges following an appearance by Spencer on campus.
The men had gone to the University of Florida to hear a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer (Pictured October 19, 2017)
Hours before the shooting, all three men had spoken with the media in support of Spencer’s speech and white nationalism.
The three were in a vehicle Thursday immediately after Spencer’s speech and began making Nazi salutes and shouting Hitler chants at a group of people holding anti-Nazi signs near a bus stop, Gainesville Police Officer Ben Tobias said.
One person in the group of about six people struck the back window of the men’s vehicle with a baton, police said.
Tenbrink, a convicted felon, showed a handgun after exiting the car while one of the Fears brothers shouted ‘I’m going to f*****g kill you’, police said.
‘Colton Fears and William Fears were also yelling, “Kill them” and “Shoot them,”‘ the police report stated.
All three men had spoken with the media in support of Spencer hours before the alleged shooting
Self-described white nationalist Colton Fears, of Pasadena, Texas, speaks to members of the media as demonstrators gather near the site of a planned speech by Richard Spencer
William Fears (white shirt) and Colton Fears were seen being escorted away from the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts while being shouted at by protesters
Tenbrink fired a single shot, police said, missing the group and striking a nearby building. He is also being charged as a felon in possession of a firearm, police said.
The men fled the scene and headed north on Highway 75, police said.
Just before 9pm an off-duty Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy who had worked the Spencer event earlier saw the men’s vehicle.
Another bystander said they memorized the license plate number of the car and shared it with police.
‘I am amazed that immediately after being shot at, a victim had the forethought to get the vehicle’s license number,’ Tobias said.
‘That key piece of information allowed officials from every level of multiple agencies to quickly identify and arrest these persons. This was an amazing team effort by everyone involved.’
A group of officers called in stopped the vehicle and took the men into custody.
Protesters chant and carry signs against white nationalism at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
Tenbrink (pictured), 28, are in the Alachua County Jail on charges of attempted homicide in connection with a shooting at a bus stop
Tenbrink admitted that he was the shooter, according to the police report.
Before Thursday shooting, the three men said that they were ‘pushing back’ against the left and exercising their right to free speech.
‘It’s always been socially acceptable to punch a Nazi, to attack people if they have right-wing political leanings,’ William Fears told The Gainesville Sun.
‘Us coming in and saying we’re taking over your town, we’re starting to push back, we’re starting to want to intimidate back. We want to show our teeth a little bit because, you know, we’re not to be taken lightly.’
Colton Fears, of Pasadena, Texas, center, walks behind Florida Highway Patrol troopers
‘We don’t want violence… we don’t want harm. But at the end of the day, we’re not opposed to defending ourselves.’
‘This is a mess. I’m disappointed in the course of things,’ Tenbrink told the Sun before firing the shot. ‘It appears that the only answer left is violence, and nobody wants that.’
It was Spencer’s first major public appearance since an August rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which devolved into violent clashes and left one dead.
Spencer began by thanking the some 500 police officers who secured the event, as well as the University of Florida’s president for allowing the event to proceed.
He appeared to have few supporters in the crowd. About 15 white men, all dressed in white shirts and khaki pants, raised their hands when Spencer asked who identified with the ‘alt-right’.
UF President W. Kent Fuchs has denounced Spencer, but as a public university the school is required to rent space to speakers regardless of their message.
Protesters began yelling and chanting when Spencer took the stage, and he criticized them for trying to suppress his speech.
The chants included ‘F**k you Spencer’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’.