Nick Fuentes, a far-right streamer known for his racist, sexist and antisemitic 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 killing three people downstate.
Fuentes made the jarring claim shortly after his first hearing on a battery charge that stems from a bizarre confrontation last month outside the home, which had become a target for his critics after his address was leaked online in response to a controversial social media post he made.
The killer parked his car in front of my house and approached my door with his pistol drawn and what appears to be a crossbow. I was livestreaming at the time.
He rings the door bell, tries the doorknob and yells “yo Nick!” pic.twitter.com/5y1LF3Dv56
— Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) December 19, 2024
“Last night an armed killer made an attempt on my life at my home, which was recently doxed on this platform,” Fuentes wrote on the social media platform X. “The gunman carried a pistol, crossbow, and incendiary devices. I believe he intended to kill me. He is now dead. I am okay!”
Fuentes shared videos from a surveilance camera on his home’s porch 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.
Citing police, Fuentes said “the would-be assassin committed a triple homicide in southern Illinois early yesterday before he arrived at my doorstep with his pistol drawn, calling my name.”
Fuentes’ account aligns with a statement released by Berwyn police saying officers responded to Fuentes’ block about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday for a call of a person with a gun. The gunman then ran into a home in another block, killed two dogs and ran into a yard in Fuentes’ block.
After the gunman disobeyed commands 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.
Lyons was wanted for a triple homicide in Mahomet, about 11 miles northwest of Champaign, Berywn police said. The earlier shooting happened about 9:40 p.m. at a home in the 1100 block of Riverside Drive, according to Mahomet police. The victims have been identified as Janis, Sara and Caleb Mason.
‘I’m not a white supremacist’
The troubling incident near Fuentes’ home came just a day before he was set to appear in court for the first time in a pending 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 57-year-old Marla Rose when she went to confront him on Nov. 10 about a controversial social media post he 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 subsequently posted online, a move that he said put his safety at risk.
In a video that Rose recorded on her cellphone, Fuentes allegedly opened the door to his home after she rang a doorbell and immediately sprayed her with a substance believed to be pepper spray, then took her phone inside. Berwyn police later retrieved the phone.
Police body camera footage shows that Rose called Fuentes “a white supremacist” as she described the alleged attack to a responding officer. She also claimed that Fuentes pushed her down his front steps — an account that was backed up by a witness who also decried Fuentes’ views.
Fuentes later told the officer that he had been the victim of a dayslong harassment campaign over the online post, which he described as “a joke.” When the officer asked whether he was in fact “a white supremacist,” Fuentes flatly said no.
“I’m not a white supremacist,” he said. “I’m Mexican, my last name’s Fuentes.”
The officer appeared to caution Fuentes to tread lightly with 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 slammed for inviting Fuentes to dinner with the musician Kanye West in November 2022.
“We also live in a free country where you can speak without people showing up and trying to hurt you,” Fuentes shot back. “I’m in fear for my life, people have been posting my address online for the past three days telling me they’re coming to kill me, they’re coming to rape me.”
During the interview, Fuentes declined to discuss the incident and said “no comment” when he was asked whether he pepper-sprayed or shoved Rose. However, he acknowledged in a prior 911 call that he had pushed her down his steps, insisting again that he had been facing harassment and death threats.
Rose filed a complaint with police and Fuentes was arrested and charged on Nov. 27. He was released on his own recognizance with a summons to appear in court on the charge Thursday. Fuentes, his attorney and Rose each appeared for the brief hearing via the 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 standard conditions of his pretrial release, including that he not commit any new offenses and that he appear for each subsequent hearing.
The judge further ordered Fuentes and Rose not to have contact with each other while the case is pending. A status hearing for Jan. 16 was set for prosecutors to provide Fuentes’ attorney with discovery. Simple battery, a Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine.
A small group of demonstrators who appeared to be holding homemade signs critical of Fuentes were seen outside the courthouse, but they left before the hearing took place after learning 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 told the sheriff’s office about “potential security concerns surrounding Mr. Fuentes’ in-person hearing.”
After the hearing, Fuentes decried having his home address leaked and said he would now have to move. He asked for donations in cryptocurrency to help him pay for private security and build a new studio for online streaming.
“This nihilistic lynch mob behavior must end before anyone else is killed,” said Fuentes.