The Forward reports “far-right influencer and unrepentant antisemite and misogynist” Nick Fuentes did something unusual: He apologized to a Jew.It took a court order, of course, adds Forward writer Andrew Lapin, and it appeared to be the most grudging and pernicious apology a victim could get — but it fulfilled the demands of the court.Fuentes himself was not present for his own “apology.” His attorney handed a note to his victim and then quickly demanded it back before it could appear in public.But the victim told the Forward that this forced act of contrition is one of the few ways in which Fuentes has been “held accountable for some of his actions as his public influence has continued to grow.”Before Fuentes became the toast of an increasingly mainstreamed antisemite GOP, he was macing 59-year-old Marla Rose on his front porch and pushing her down the steps.Knowing Fuentes’ ‘neo-Nazi’ reputation, Rose told the Forward she was surprised when she saw his address listed as located in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois. She drove the 10 minutes to his house and filmed the front of it to send to her friends. As she was filming, she recalled, someone drove by and asked if it was indeed Fuentes’ house. The driver then dared her to knock on the door, and she agreed. Rose was a longtime political canvasser, and she was accustomed to knocking on strangers’ doors.“I don’t believe that people should hide behind screens,” she told the Forward. “And since he did make this very public statement that contributes to violence against women and reducing our bodily autonomy, I figured … OK, what the hell, I’ll ask. I didn’t expect he would answer the door.”“But Fuentes did open the door. He pepper-sprayed Rose, shoved her off his porch and grabbed and stomped her phone, breaking it. Rose said she did not think her approaching his property was grounds for assault.She pressed charges a few days later, and the state deferred his prosecution in exchange for 75 hours of community service, attend an anger management class, reimburse Rose for her stomped phone and issue an apology. Fuentes attorneys kept stalling his community work until Rose again threatened to spark up the prosecution in February.That, said Rose, led to Fuentes’ court appearance last month, in which Fuentes’s attorneys argued, hence the paper note containing the apology before snatching it back,“Rose described the apology as ‘a ChatGPT-type short letter.’ Fuentes stated that he had ‘overreacted’ to her presence, while noting several times that she was ‘uninvited.’ His long history of hate speech was not mentioned, and he attended the hearing by Zoom instead of in person (his camera was also off, to her recollection),” according to the Forward.Additionally, his attorneys pushed for an additional delay on his completion of the community service and anger-management requirements.This is why when her friends point out that Fuentes is now urging supporters to vote Democrat and opposes the war in Iran, Rose knows it has nothing to do with a personal evolution or growth.“It’s 100 percent opportunistic,” Rose told the Forward. “He’s trying to get more people to follow him.”
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