Nick Fuentes has been banned from YouTube, the white nationalist and “groyper” leader tweeting today that his account had “been wrongly terminated” as a “result of a concerted effort by leftists, conservative inc (sic) gatekeepers, and silicon valley (sic) censors to silence my show and the movement it has inspired.”[1]
A YouTube message to Fuentes stated that the move was “due to repeated and severe violations of our Community Guidelines,” stressing that “[c]ontent glorifying or inciting violence against another person or group of people is not allowed on YouTube.”[2]
Fuentes’ removal comes just two days after announcing that he had been suspended from YouTube for two weeks, and three days after IREHR released From Alt-Right to Groyper – a comprehensive report documenting Fuentes’ rampant bigotry, callous disregard for the targets of racist violence, and efforts to mainstream white nationalism.[3]
Fuentes quickly gained sympathy from participants in his “gropyer” mobilization, including Jaden McNeil, the leader of America First Students (AFS) at Kansas State University. McNeil, who tweeted “Call out YouTube for deplatforming Nick,” received advice on forming AFS from Fuentes’ and others at a December 20, 2019 Groyper Leadership Summit in Florida.[4]
Fuentes continues to live stream on Dlive where he has more than 23,000 followers. On February 12 Fuentes discussed plans to create a new platform for his show and, on February 13, claimed he had received about a dozen inquiries concerning a planned Spring 2020 campus tour.[5]
Fuentes also garnered encouragement from the usual suspects, including anti-Semite and American Freedom Party director Kevin MacDonald and white nationalist Peter Brimelow’s VDARE. VDARE tweeted “Don’t Stop Fighting,” while MacDonald wrote, “A good sign that @NickFuentes is being effective.”[6]
Fuentes got measured sympathy from white nationalist Richard Spencer and Ben Shapiro, despite have called Spencer a “delusional, angry narcissist” and Shapiro being a frequent target of “groyper” hostility for his ties to Turning Point USA.[7]
IREHR will keep readers abreast of further developments on the “groyper” front.
[1] Fuentes, Nick. Twitter. February 14, 2020. https://twitter.com/NickJFuentes/status/1228390570986483713
[2] ibid
[3] Fuentes, Nick. Twitter. February 12, 2020. https://twitter.com/NickJFuentes/status/1227718946733907972
[4] McNeil, Jaden. Twitter. February 14, 2020. https://twitter.com/McNeilJaden/status/1228378715672993793
[5] America First with Nick Fuentes. Radical Open Borders Democrats Propose New Way Forward Act. February 13, 2020. https://dlive.tv/p/dlive-93233454+Udoi5ZwWR; America First with Nick Fuentes. CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: US Military Preparing for Global Pandemic. https://dlive.tv/p/dlive-93233454+seoTQRwWg
[6] Kevin MacDonald. Twitter. February 14, 2020. https://twitter.com/TOOEdit/status/1228397001777090561; VDARE. Twitter. February 14, 2020. https://twitter.com/vdare/status/1228347647666380801
[7] Richard Spencer. Twitter. February 14, 2020. https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/1228406078217453568; https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1228366292643483648
