Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Monday, as the University of Florida prepares for a speech this week by the fiery white nationalist Richard Spencer, whose racist rallies have sparked violence in other college towns.
"I find that the threat of a potential emergency is imminent," Scott said in his decree, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute, is scheduled to speak Thursday at the university's campus in Gainesville, where college officials are spending about $500,000 on extra security.
University President Kent Fuchs tried to block Spencer's appearance, but he backed down in the face of a threatened lawsuit.
"As a state entity, UF must allow the free expression of speech," the university webpage said. "We cannot prohibit groups or individuals from speaking in our public forums except for limited exceptions, which include safety and security."
Spencer, who attended the flashpoint pro-Confederate rally in Charlottesville, Virginia this summer, returned to the home of the University of Virginia last week.
"Your city has become symbolic for the tearing down of the symbols of the history of this nation, the history of our people — of white people of Virginia, of the South and of the entire United States," Spencer said at a nighttime rally there.
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