The wife of white nationalist Richard Spencer is accusing him of being “physically, emotionally, verbally and financially abusive” throughout their marriage, according to divorce filings in Flathead County District Court in Montana obtained by Buzzfeed News.
Nina Koupriianova, who has been married to Spencer since 2010 and has two children with him, says that Spencer abused her physically, giving multiple instances of when she alleges she was “being hit, being grabbed, being dragged around by her hair, being held down in a manner causing bruising and being prevented from calling for help.”
The documents indicated that Koupriianova, who went by Kouprianova in some public interviews and N.K. in the documents, “has been reluctant to call police or seek an order of protection for fear of further reprisal by” her husband according to what her lawyers said in court documents. “Much of the abuse has occurred in the presence of the parties’ children.”
The documents said that Spencer’s “controversial public life” was in part what lead to “his entire family to be targets of violence,” alleging that Spencer went as far as to keep a loaded gun in their bedroom what was “accessible by children” after he was infamously punched in the face on President Trump’s inauguration day.
The court documents say that “despite the risk to his family,” Spencer continues to push his alt-right agenda of spouting “extremely polarizing public speech advocating ‘peaceful ethnic cleansing’ and a white-only ‘ethno-state’ which tends to invite passions and violence.”
“Most, if not all, of [Spencer’s] public speaking events result in violence,” the documents state.
This comment is likely a reference to Spencer attended last year’s Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, where Heather Heyer, a woman who was counter-protesting, was purposefully struck and killed by a car driven by James Alex Fields Jr., also reported by Buzzfeed. Fields was later charged with 28 counts of hate crime acts causing bodily injury and involving an attempt to kill and one count of racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity.
The two have lived separately since July 1, 2017, with Spencer splitting time between Washington, D.C. and Whitefish, Montana, where Koupriianova lives in a separate residence. Koupriianova filed for divorce in June 2018.
The documents partially attribute Spencer’s violent behavior to an increased “alcohol consumption” which “contributes to his aggressive and erratic behavior and reduces his impulse control.”
Spencer and his legal team denied the charges, writing in his own court documents, “I dispute many of her assertions,” adding he “denies each, every, and all allegations.”
Spencer told BuzzFeed News his lawyers would send a comment and Koupriianova’s lawyer declined to comment.