The organizer of white supremacist Richard Spencer's speaking tour has filed a lawsuit against Michigan State University, claiming that the school violated Spencer's right to free speech when it denied his request to speak on campus.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Kyle Bristow Sunday night on behalf of Georgia State University student Cameron Padgett, who has been organizing Richard Spencer's speaking tour. Bristow is an MSU graduate and was president of the school's chapter of the conservative group Young Americans for Freedom while he was a student there. (Young Americans for Freedom claims Bristow's group was never affiliated with the national organization.)

In the complaint, which was sent to BuzzFeed News by Bristow Sunday, Padgett claims that the East Lansing, Michigan, university denied his application to rent a conference room at the school's Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, which is located on campus.

The 23-year-old plaintiff is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages from MSU.



MSU said in August that it would deny Spencer's white supremacist group, the National Policy Institute, a space to speak, citing recent violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which Spencer attended.



"After consultation with law enforcement officials, Michigan State University has decided to deny the National Policy Institute’s request to rent space on campus to accommodate a speaker," the university said in a statement on Aug. 17. "This decision was made due to significant concerns about public safety in the wake of the tragic violence in Charlottesville last weekend."