Texas: Calls to ban Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin 'hate speech' event

Ukrainian groups have called for a Texas university event by Russian far-right ideologue Alexander Dugin, who was recently placed on a US sanctions list, to be banned, arguing his views constitute hate speech.

The talk, which Dugin will deliver live on the internet, is entitled American Liberalism Must Be Destroyed and is scheduled to take place at Texas A&M University's campus in College Station, Texas, on 29 April.

One of the ideological spearheads of Russian nationalism, Dugin, a former adviser to Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, has called for a conservative Russian-led Eurasian alliance to be formed as an ideological bulwark against the liberal West.

Members of his far-right group, the Eurasian Youth Union, are believed to have fought for pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine, and Dugin called for Ukrainians to be "killed, killed, killed" in a television interview in the wake of the Maidan revolution.

In the interview, he calls for the "vermin in Kiev" to be "wiped from the face of the Earth".

Calls to ban the event

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America has called for the university to ban the event. "Mr Dugin's is a voice of hatred, and we do not believe that he should be allowed to speak in the US," said Congress spokesman Andrij Dobriansky.

"Any speech based on hatred, on a denigration of people as not people, on a lowering of humans to non-human categories, ought not to go ahead."

A Facebook advert for the talk proclaims "Much of Russian politics today, especially the retaking of Crimea, is based on Professor Dugin's ideology."

Dugin was one of a number of figures associated with the Russian annexation of Crimea hit by a new wave of asset freezes and travel bans by the US in March.

In the seminar, Dugin will explain his views that "dissenting powers" need to co-operate against the West.

"Russia is crucial to this effort, in Dugin's view, and indeed, its own survival as a unique and independent civilisation is dependent on a geopolitical shift away from the unipolar world represented by America's unchecked supremacy," says the announcement.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has previously issued a report on event organiser Preston Wigginton, who describes himself on his social media profile as a businessman, but the SPLC claims he is "forging international connections between anti-immigration extremists and white supremacists."

It alleges he has built an extensive network of far-right contacts in Russia. It said: "In 2007, he addressed thousands of Russian nationalists at the Russian March, which promoted Russian nationalism and attacked non-white immigration. The participants gave Nazi salutes at the march and shouted 'White power'.

In a statement, Texas A&M University said: "Neither this event nor its message are promoted or endorsed by Texas A&M University. Mr. Wigginton is a private citizen who reserved space generally available to the public to host events of its own choosing."

"Texas A&M University has six core values: excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect, and selfless service. Our commitment to these values is rivaled only by our commitment to the values enumerated in the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution; especially here, the First Amendment's free speech guarantee. The university supports the First Amendment rights of speakers even when their judgment and actions are morally reprehensible."