Ex-LTHS Student Leader Says Riot 'Glorious'

LA GRANGE, IL — A white nationalist who was once Lyons Township High School's student body president called last Wednesday's riot at the Capitol "glorious."

Nicholas Fuentes, a 2016 graduate who lived in La Grange Park, has attracted nationwide attention since he took part in the deadly white nationalist rally in 2017 in Charlottesville, Va. Last week, a national news organization quoted one of Fuentes' tweets in the wake of the insurrection.

In a tweet late last week, the 2016 graduate called for President Donald Trump to pardon the rioters. He said they are the true patriots. At least five people, including a Capitol police officer, died in the insurrection.

Fuentes spoke about the insurrection on his America First podcast last week. He has posted photos of himself attending on the steps of the Capitol during the riot, wearing a suit. But he denied entering the building.

"Patriots did storm the Capitol yesterday, and it was glorious, and it was a good thing, and our ancestors in their graves, wherever they are, have smiled down upon us because of yesterday," Fuentes said. "I will never say anything other than that about yesterday. I will not condemn. I will not disavow."

He did not explain why he chose against entering the Capitol, even though he praised those who did.

In his podcast, Fuentes portrayed himself and like-minded allies as the victims in society, though he said the riot was a "flicker of hope."

"They're going to crack down on us. They're going to persecute us legally, politically. They're going to suppress us online and all of that," Fuentes said in the podcast. "Things are going to get dark."

On Thursday, Fuentes tweeted rare criticism of Trump, referring to the president's condemnation of the violence more than a day after it happened.

“People were willing to die for this man and he just threw them all under the bus. That’s the only thing that’s shameful about the events of the past 36 hours,” he wrote.

This tweet was quoted in a Politico story, which labeled Fuentes as the "unofficial" leader of the white nationalist Groyper Army.

Fuentes has a history of statements that are far outside the mainstream. He has compared the Holocaust to a cookie-baking operation and maintained segregation was better for African Americans. He rallied on the side of white supremacists in Charlottesville.

After the rally, he tweeted, "You can call us racists, white supremacists, Nazis, & bigots. But you will not replace us. The rootless transnational elite knows that a tidal wave of white identity is coming. And they know that once the word gets out, they will not be able to stop us. The fire rises!"

Fuentes's Facebook page lists him as a resident of Chicago.