June trial date set for 2 in shooting after Richard Spencer’s University of Florida speech
A June trial date has been set for two of the three people charged with attempted murder during a shooting after Richard B. Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida.
Alachua County, Florida court records show that 29-year-old Colton Gene Fears and 29-year-old Tyler Eugene Tenbrink will face a jury on June 11 in Gainesville, Florida.
The two were arrested October 19, hours after Spencer appeared at the college.
According to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office report, Tenbrink got out of a car with a gun and Colton and his brother, William Fears, started yelling “I’m going to f------ kill you,” “kill them” and “shoot them” at protestors.
Tenbrink fired a single shot, which struck a nearby business behind the protestors, deputies said.
The three jumped back in the car along with a fourth person, who was not charged, and left the scene.
Deputies stopped the Jeep about 20 miles north of Gainesville on Interstate 75 and questioned the men.
One of the victims identified Tenbrink and the Fears brothers as the people who threatened him. Deputies said Tenbrink later admitted to firing the shot.
No trial date has been set for 30-year-old William Fears. He faces charges in Harris County, Texas, of assault of a family member.
Police there say William Fears choked his then-girlfriend. At the time of the Florida shooting, William Fears was wanted in Texas on a warrant. He is free on bond in Texas. No trial date has been set for those charges.
Colton Fears is being held on $1 million bond and Tenbrink remain in custody in the Alachua County Jail on $3 million bond.
By the time of the Florida shooting, William Fears was a known commodity in the white nationalist scene, having appeared at demonstrations in Austin, Texas, Houston Texas, New Orleans, and Charlottesville, Virginia, among others.
Tenbrink proclaimed his dedication to the “14 words” and William Fears spoke of his desire to be martyred for his beliefs. Fears was also visible in footage from the disastrous Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally on August 12, 2017, shouting “Shoot! Fire the first shot of the race war!”
