A speech by alt-right leader Richard Spencer in Gainesville, Florida on Thursday brought white nationalists and protesters from across the country. The event sparked violence, including a shooting that led to the arrest of three people.
But amid the violence, one protester tried to defeat hate with love.
The video shows a black man, identified by the New York Daily News as Aaron Courtney, grab a man wearing T-shirt emblazoned with swastikas.
"Give me a (expletive) hug," Courtney said. "Why you don't like me, though?"
“I could have hit him, I could have hurt him ... but something in me said, ‘You know what? He just needs love,” Courtney said, according to the Daily News.
The man wearing the swastika shirt was identified by the Gainesville Sun as Randy Furniss of Idaho. At the same event, Furniss was photographed being punched in the face by a protester.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
