My question is this: Why is this nut case getting so much attention? Why is his speaking on campus a national news story? Angela Davis spoke at my campus in 1975; why wasn't that news?
The reason was because of the "counter-demonstrators". They're the ones that make violence possible. They're there to provoke Spencer and his crowd to violence. Which is what Spencer wants, as to the more hairy followers of Spencer.
"Counter-demonstrators" are what keep these alt-right lunatics "relevant". They, and the media that can't wait to cover the speeches of folks like Spencer, in the hope that violence will break out and some "journalist" will get a leg up toward his next Pulitzer Prize or book contract. If a tree fell in forest and nobody heard it fall, did it make a noise? If Richard Spencer spoke on whatever he speaks about and no media showed up, was it an event?
Here's the key to drying up the alt-right: STOP GIVING THEM ATTENTION!
That is all good & justified if these folks had little influence. If you are obscure politician for example, you can be ignored, but if you are a big Republican leader winning many states, you can't be, because you represent substantial part of the party, the base & the people.
These folks have an army of backers. The Crazy Infowars guy has 2M subscribers & is radicalizing a generation to the point that the buffoon in the Oval office is spreading his conspiracy theories. If these were no name guys with no clout, then they would be ignored, but that is clearly not the case here.