Ronald Reagan building refuses space to Richard Spencer's NPI
Update: Anti-fascist Anti-conference "from Resistance to Revolution will take place in DC starting Nov 18.
On Friday, the 3ed of November, the Washington Post confirmed that the Ronald Reagan Building has rejected Richard Spencer's request to rent space on Nov 19th for the neo-Nazi "National Policy Institute" conference. Building management cited "security issues" at previous NPI events, and also the bloody violence in Charlottesville as their reasons.
Richard Spencer was one of the "VIP's" at the "Unite the Right" Nazi event in Charlottesville. Thus his "National Policy Institute" now reeks of the stench of shield-wielding battles, torches and nighttime terror marches, and of people being deliberately run over with cars the way Daesh(ISIS) advocates. Of less concern to Reagan Building management is the equally foul agenda of the National Policy Institute, which has called for compulsory sterilzation of people of color, then called for "peaceful ethnic cleansing" which in actual practice would be resisted by armed force and always leads to civil war.
While there remains the real risk that NPI will still go on somewhere else in or around DC, it should be very difficult for Spencer to find a new venue, especially by the weekend of Nov 18-19, which is just a week and a half away. Trump Hotel is probably too expensive. Even the tiny MAGA "Mother of All Rallies" afterparty was driven out of the Capitol City Brewery, only to be found and harassed at Harry's Bar.That was Trumpers and a smattering of alt-right, notably including "based stickman." if NPI does find a venue, they will surely be found, just as their dinner at Maggiani's was found. Also, there will already be the antifascist "from Resistance to Revolution" event taking place, so NPI's opponents will already be in town.
Anyone hosting NPI this fall would be harboring the first major indoor "alt-right" or neo-Nazi event in DC since the Deploraball. The Jan 19 Deploraball was beseiged by over 1,000 protesters, some throwing water bottles etc at the Nazis. Police failed in that night's attempt at a J20 style kettle, and the night ended in pepper spray, bottles, and running street battles. Before the Deploraball came NPI's Nov 19, 2016 Convention, also beseiged by over 1,000 protesters. The night before that, an NPI dinner at Maggiano's Little Italy in Friendship Heights was stormed by over 100 protesters, who were cheered by first floor diners as they fought on the staircase to reach the Nazis on the second floor.
One event probably referred to by Ronald Reagan Building management was the March 5, 2016 NPI convention, which cooincided with a convention of dermatologists in the same building. Attendees at the dermatologist event had to run the same gauntlet as the Nazis but were allowed to pass after answering the "Nazi or dermatogist" question. This may be what the Reagan building management meant about "other events" being disrupted, or there may have been yet another event on Nov 19, 2016 whose attendees had to see and hear over 1,000 screaming protesters. This is a strong deterrent to ever hosting the offending event (NPI) again.
Beyond that, the last three major alt-right events have ended in violence initiated by the alt-right: the vehicular murder in Charlottesville, a Nazi shooting at counterprotesters in Gainsville, FL(thankfully his bullet missed), and the assault of an interracial couple after the Shelbyville, TN neo-Nazi march. Anyone harboring Nazis in DC will be responsible if this happens again, for what would be the fourth time in a row.