Fresno State College Republicans host speaker connected to white nationalist movement

The Fresno State College Republicans group recently hosted a digital event with Tyler Russell, a Canadian nationalist with reported ties to American white nationalist movements.

Russell is the host of Canada First, a live-stream broadcast. His viewpoints have tied him to the young American white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who was banned on Twitter over the summer for allegedly making racist and antisemitic comments.

Russell is also tied to the Groyper movement, an extreme alt-right group that seeks to preserve white, European-American culture and identity through opposing immigration and globalization, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

In his speech on Nov. 17 to Fresno State Republicans, Russell answered questions about how supporters could object to COVID-19 policies in the U.S., such as mask-wearing.

“You have to go full dissident mode,” he said. “And this means you’re not wearing masks.”

He said the group should think about issues with an “us versus them” mentality.

“Whatever issue I’m going to be talking about today, whether it’s COVID-19, immigration, free speech. The issue here is that people are against us,” he said.

Fresno State officials could not confirm whether the event took place on campus but said it complied with all protocols. The Fresno State College Republicans did not respond to requests for comment.

“As a public university, Fresno State is committed to free expression as essential to its educational mission, which extends to recognized student organizations and University-affiliated groups, including those who invite speakers whose expressed values conflict with those of the University,” the university said in a statement.

“The University does not endorse the views of Mr. Tyler Russell as they run contrary to the University’s core values. Fresno State supports academic freedom, including the freedom to express individual viewpoints and to challenge the viewpoints of others without fear of retaliation or censorship.”

It appears the event was supposed to take place in August but was canceled, according to the group’s Twitter account. Although a reason wasn’t posted, Russell said Wednesday that it partially had to do with Ben Lorber, a researcher at Political Research Associates, a think tank that monitors and reports on white nationalist and other far-right movements. Russell said Lorber and other journalists were “on our asses.”

Lorber, who spoke with The Bee on Thursday, said he tweeted about Russell’s planned visit in August, and so did the watchdog organization StopAntisemitism.org.

The Fresno County Democratic Party said it strongly condemned the decision to host the “far-right internet personality.”

“Among his supporters, the terms ‘Canada First’ and ‘America First’ are used interchangeably, a flub that sweeps away the political theater Russell refers to as his ‘optics’ to expose the White supremacy underneath,” the party said in a statement.

The group said the cancellation in August was made to not draw attention to the event.

“Looking back, it is clear all they feared was the visibility, not Russell’s actual messages of cultural supremacy and intolerance, the statement read. “Rebooking him after outside attention waned is the proof.”

The Fresno State College Republicans is a chapter of the official statewide California College Republicans organization, which has seen members come under fire for hate speech and threats of violence, including from its Cal Poly Pomona chapter.

Lorber said he believes it’s a university’s responsibility to foster a safe environment for students, which could mean shutting down speakers such as Russell.

“I think it can be dangerous to the safety of students, possibly, to have to have speakers like that, who are from these white nationalist movements,” he said. “For years, university administrators have wrestled with trying to balance a commitment to free speech on the one hand with also fostering a safe campus environment, and I think it’s hard. You have speakers who are regularly trading in bigoted views that put minority groups in danger.

“Having that kind of hateful speech that demonizes marginalized groups ... likely does not create a safe campus environment,” he said.

The Fresno State College Republicans group also received backlash in August for a tweet disparaging veterans and the military after their Twitter account interacted with a video of a veteran calling anti-maskers cowards.