Richard Spencer Gets Punched

2017

Date: 20 January 2017 · Place: Northwest Washington D.C. · sidewalk near Inauguration Day protests · Figures: Richard Spencer, founder of the National Policy Institute and the term 'alt-right' · unidentified masked assailant · Tags: Inauguration, Antifa, Punch 01. Mid-Sentence Two hours after Donald Trump's swearing-in, Richard Spencer is on a D.C. sidewalk doing an Australian Broadcasting Corporation interview. He is explaining the Pepe pin on his lapel. A masked figure in black runs in from off-camera, lands a right hook on Spencer's jaw, and disappears. The clip is online within the hour. By evening it is set to dozens of soundtracks: New Order's 'Blue Monday,' the Mortal Kombat theme, Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' 02. The Debate The footage triggers a multi-day discourse cycle: is it okay to punch a Nazi. Op-eds run in The Nation, The Atlantic, the New York Times. The slogan 'punch a Nazi' is screen-printed on t-shirts within a week. Spencer never recovers the speaking-tour momentum he had on inauguration morning. The assailant is never identified. The clip remains a standing reference for the rest of the Trump term. Sources • Daniel Victor, 'Is It O.K. to Punch a Nazi?,' New York Times, 21 January 2017 • Natasha Lennard, 'Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer got punched, you can thank the black bloc,' The Nation, 22 January 2017 • Know Your Meme, 'Punching Nazis / Richard Spencer Punch'