Anti-fascist group starts fund to defend man who punched alt-right leader

A video clip of white nationalist Richard Spencer getting punched in the face near President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony has sparked dueling offers: one posting a reward for the name of the attacker; the other pledging to defend him.

The video has been shared thousands of times, spawned plenty of memes, and even prompted the question: Is it OK to punch a Nazi?

Spencer, a founder of the alt-right movement, has filed a police report and a crowdfunding site relating to alt-right issues has offered a bounty for the suspect’s name.

WeSearchr is offering more than $5,000 for the identity of the man who punched Spencer during an interview with theAustralian Broadcasting Corp. in Washington.

A Philadelphia division of theTorch Antifa Network (“antifa” referring to anti-fascist) has launched a counter-fund to defend the unknown assailant.

“Philly Antifa is fundraising for the legal defense (if found and charged) or the health care costs (if attacked) of the puncher,” the organization wrote on its website.”We do not know who the puncher is nor are in touch with them, however we have years of experience raising legal defense for militant antifascists and are committed to distributing the funds to anyone accused if and when they are needed.”

Philly Antifa also called out several media outlets for giving airtime to Spencer’s “violent calls for genocide,” accusing them of “allowing neonazi[sic] movements to recruit and grow.”

In the Australian television broadcast, Spencer denied being a neo-Nazi, and said, “neo-Nazis don’t love me, they kind of hate me actually.”

But Spencer is president of the National Policy Institute, a right-wing research group that is “dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world,” its website states.