Three Men Arrested After Shot Fired at Protesters Near Richard Spencer Speech

Police in Gainesville, Florida, arrested three Texas men after a gun was fired at protesters near white nationalist Richard Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida on Thursday, October 19.

A police statement said Tyler Tenbrink, 28, of Richmond, Texas; William Fears, 30, of Pasadena, Texas; and Colton Fears, 28, also of Pasadena, were charged with attempted homicide. Colton and William Fears were identified as brothers by police, and police said at least two of the men are connected to extremist groups. Tenbrink was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Police said the three men got into an argument with a group of protesters after stopping the Jeep in which they were riding. The men threatened protesters, offered Nazi salutes and shouted chants about Hitler to the group near a bus stop, police said.

Police said Tenbrink produced a handgun during the altercation, and the Fears brothers encouraged him to shoot at the protesters. He fired a single shot at the group, which missed and struck a nearby building, according to police.

One of the victims recorded and reported the Jeep’s license plate.

An off-duty Alachua County sheriff’s deputy was on his way home from working at the Spencer speech when he began searching for and then found the Jeep, police said. Local and state police pulled it over on I-75 and arrested the three men.

The three men remain in the Alachua County Jail, the Fears brothers on a $1 million bond and Tenbrink on a $3 million bond. Credit: Gainesville Police Department via Storyful