Far-right provocateur Nick Fuentes claims ‘potential assassin’ came to kill him at his suburban home

Nick Fuentes, a far-right streamer known for his racist, sexist and anti-Semitic views, claimed Thursday that he was the target of a “would-be assassin” who was fatally shot by police near his home in Berwyn After allegedly killed three people in upstate.

Fuentes made the shocking statement shortly after his first hearing on a battery charge stemming from a bizarre confrontation last month outside the home, which had become the target of his criticism after his address was leaked in online in response to a controversial post he made on social media. .

“Last night an armed killer made an attempt on my life at my home, which was recently reported on this platform,” Fuentes wrote on the social media platform arsonists. I believe he intended to kill me.

Fuentes shared videos from a surveillance camera on the porch of his home that showed a person wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying what appeared to be a handgun and a crossbow. Fuentes said he was home at the time.

Quoting police, Fuentes said “the would-be killer committed a triple homicide in southern Illinois early yesterday before arriving at my door with his gun drawn, calling my name.”

Fuentes’ account aligns with a statement released by Berwyn police that officers responded to Fuentes’ blockade around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday for a call of a person with a gun. The shooter then ran into a house on another block, killed two dogs and ran into a yard on Fuentes’ block.

After the shooter disobeyed orders and began shooting at police, officers returned fire and killed him, police said. He was identified as John R. Lyons, a 24-year-old man from Westchester.

Fuentes’ neighbors said they were sleeping when they heard screaming outside the window of their Berwyn home Wednesday night.

“It was like hearing a movie,” said Bianca, 33, who did not want her last name used. “All I heard was the police calling ‘John’ and yelling, ‘Put your f—— hands up.’ Put them in place.

Bianca, 33, said she heard police mention that they found her backpack in the gangway.

Matt, who lives with Bianca, said he saw Fuentes Thursday morning outside their home. “He was telling me the shooter was trying to kill him,” he said.

Bianca said she doesn’t believe it was a “coincidence” that the shooter showed up in Fuentes’ neighborhood.

“Fuentes’ address is faked and this guy ends up here,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that someone who killed three people in the South ended up here. This guy is miles away, why is he here?

Lyons was wanted in connection with a triple homicide in Mahomet, about 11 miles northwest of Champaign, Berywn police said. The earlier shooting happened around 9:40 p.m. at a home in the 1100 block of Riverside Drive, according to Mahomet police. The victims were identified as Janis, Sara and Caleb Mason.

“I am not a white supremacist”

The disturbing incident near Fuentes’ home occurred just a day before his first court appearance in an ongoing criminal case involving an alleged attack on another person who showed up at his door .

Fuentes, 26, faces a single misdemeanor charge for allegedly pepper-spraying Marla Rose, 57, when she went to confront him Nov. 10 about a controversial social media post he had made days earlier, according to court records and the victim .

“Your body, my choice. Forever,” Fuentes wrote on the social media platform X, an apparent reference to the “My body, my choice” slogan used by abortion rights supporters.

Fuentes’ home address was later posted online, a move he said put his safety at risk.

In a video that Rose recorded on her cell phone, Fuentes allegedly opened the door to her home after ringing the doorbell and immediately sprayed her with a substance believed to be pepper spray, then took her phone away. ‘interior. Berwyn police later recovered the phone.

Police body camera footage shows Rose called Fuentes a “white supremacist” as she described the alleged attack to a responding officer. She also claimed that Fuentes pushed her down her front steps — an account supported by a witness who also decried Fuentes’ views.

Fuentes later told the officer that he was the victim of a days-long campaign of harassment over the online post, which he called a “joke.” When the officer asked him if he was really “a white supremacist,” Fuentes said emphatically no.

“I’m not a white supremacist,” he said. “I’m Mexican, my last name is Fuentes.”

The officer appeared to warn Fuentes to tread lightly in his rhetoric, noting the current political climate. “Especially right now after Trump won,” the officer said, referring to the re-election of President-elect Donald Trump, who was criticized for inviting Fuentes to dinner with musician Kanye West in November 2022.

“We also live in a free country where you can talk without anyone appearing and trying to hurt you,” Fuentes retorted. “I’m afraid for my life, people have been publishing my address on the Internet for three days, telling me that they are coming to kill me, that they are coming to rape me.”

During the interview, Fuentes declined to discuss the incident and responded “no comment” when asked if he pepper-sprayed Rose or pushed Rose. However, he admitted in a previous 911 call that he had pushed her on her steps, once again insisting that he had been the victim of harassment and death threats.

Rose filed a police report and Fuentes was arrested and charged on November 27. He was released on his own recognizance with a summons to appear in court on that charge Thursday. Fuentes, his attorney and Rose each appeared for the brief hearing via live streaming service Zoom before Judge Shawnte Raines-Welch at the Fourth District Courthouse in Maywood.

The judge informed Fuentes of his rights and the usual conditions of his pretrial release, including that he commit no new offenses and that he appear at each subsequent hearing.

The judge further ordered Fuentes and Rose to have no contact with each other while the case is pending. A status hearing will be held Jan. 16 so prosecutors can provide advance information to Fuentes’ attorney. Simple battery, a class A misdemeanor, is punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine.

A small group of protesters who appeared to hold homemade signs criticizing Fuentes were seen outside the courthouse, but they left before the hearing began after learning that Fuentes would not appear in person.

A spokesperson for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said Fuentes was allowed to appear remotely after Berwyn police informed the sheriff’s office of “potential security concerns surrounding the hearing in person of Mr. Fuentes.”

After the hearing, Fuentes lamented the leak of his home address and said he would now have to move. He asked for cryptocurrency donations to help pay for private security and build a new online streaming studio.

“This nihilistic lynching behavior must stop before anyone else is killed,” Fuentes said.