A Texas man who shot at protesters after a white nationalist's speech at the University of Florida and two brothers who urged him to "kill them" have been charged with attempted homicide, police said on Friday.
No less than two of the suspects have "demonstrated associations with radical gatherings", as indicated by the Gainesville Police Department, despite the fact that it's hazy which two.
Self-described white nationalist Tyler Tenbrink, of Houston, Texas, is handcuffed by Florida Highway Patrol trooper at the University of Florida campus on October 19.
The men then began "threatening, offering Nazi salutes and shouting chants about Hitler" at the protesters, according to police.
Florida officials had feared that Spencer's talk could prompt an outbreak in violence.
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Tenbrink fired a single shot that missed the people, police said, and hit a nearby building. Then the Jeep sped off, police said. Police said that's when Tenbrink got out of the vehicle and took out a handgun while the Fears brothers yelled "shoot them" and "kill them", according to the report. At least two of the three suspects are connected to extremist groups, according to police. Just a few hours later, an off-duty Alachua County sheriff's deputy, who was on his way home after working the Spencer event, began searching for the vehicle and ultimately found it.
The men fled the scene and headed north on Highway 75, police said. Tenbrink went on to recite the "14 words" used as a motto by white supremacists: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children". The suspects then drove off, but not before a victim was able to record their license plate number which was then provided to police. At one point, police held a man back from the stage while others in riot gear readied themselves in the balconies.
Tenbrink and William Fears also attended the infamous white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, at which one woman was killed after a white supremacist mowed down pedestrians with his vehicle, the Miami Herald reported. The information was relayed to several law enforcement agencies with officers in the area. In interviews with the news media captured before the shooting, both Tenbrink and the elder Fears brother told reporters they came to Florida from Texas to support Spencer.
It was not clear whether police or prosecutors are contemplating seeking hate-crime enhancements to the charges.
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