--- title: Boston University Student Quits After Charlottesville Rally description: An 18-year-old who participated in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville said is leaving Boston University after receiving threats canonical: https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-17T22:58:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:03:25.769Z article:section: Politics og:title: Student Who Attended White Supremacist Rally Leaves Boston University og:description: "Probably anywhere I would go would be safer than Boston" og:url: https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a915201e45ba3f8/6988da3ccf40a89b0fc49077/nicholas-fuentes-boston-university.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Charlottesville Protest Boston Student og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Student Who Attended White Supremacist Rally Leaves Boston University twitter:description: "Probably anywhere I would go would be safer than Boston" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a915201e45ba3f8/6988da3ccf40a89b0fc49077/nicholas-fuentes-boston-university.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Student Who Attended Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally Leaves Boston University After Backlash  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 17, 2017 10:58 PM UTC  Nicholas Fuentes, poses for a photo in his home in LaGrange Park, Ill. on Aug. 16, 2017. Nicholas Fuentes, poses for a photo in his home in LaGrange Park, Ill. on Aug. 16, 2017.Teresa Crawford—AP  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 17, 2017 10:58 PM UTC An 18-year-old who participated in the white supremacist [rally in Charlottesville, Va.](http://time.com/4904270/will-nation-succeed-after-charlottesville/), said he has [chosen to leave Boston University](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/15/citing-death-threats-year-old-who-attended-violent-rally-won-return/CJU7GioWLClGjIHZ2YqshM/story.html) after receiving threats because of his beliefs. “Massachusetts, and Boston in particular, are among the most left wing states and cities,” Nicholas Fuentes [told the Boston _Globe_](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/15/citing-death-threats-year-old-who-attended-violent-rally-won-return/CJU7GioWLClGjIHZ2YqshM/story.html) on Tuesday, describing the campus and city as “very dangerous.” Fuentes said that he has received 15 death threats via email and social media in the past week. “Probably anywhere I would go would be safer than Boston,” said Fuentes, a supporter of President Donald Trump who runs his own political YouTube channel. One [woman was killed](http://time.com/4904099/charlottesville-heather-heyer-mother-speech/) and many were injured when a man believed to be a white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville on Saturday. Fuentes told the _Globe_ he had attended the rally to protest immigration and multiculturalism, but said he was not a white nationalist or racist. “The rally was about not replacing white people,” he said. Boston University President Robert Brown on Thursday condemned the Charlottesville violence ahead of a “free speech” rally set to take place in Boston on Saturday. Some [right-wing extremists are slated to speak at the rally](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/17/speakers-list-for-boston-free-speech-rally-include-right-wing-extremist/6xWnzHZwrjq8svoRbPN1NP/story.html), and Boston leaders have spoken out against hate and violence in advance. “Palpably evil acts, such as occurred in Charlottesville, invite the challenging question about what is and is not tolerable or morally acceptable in speech and accompanying deeds,” Brown said in a [letter to the university community](http://www.bu.edu/today/2017/bu-president-responds-to-charlottesville-violence/?utm%5Fsource=social&utm%5Fmedium=TWITTER&utm%5Fcampaign=prbumain). “It is clear to me, and I believe it a view that is broadly shared in our community, that a claim of inherent racial or ethnic superiority is abhorrent. We must, I believe, explicitly denounce white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups that make such claims.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/"},"headline":"Student Who Attended Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally Leaves Boston University After Backlash","datePublished":"2017-08-17T22:58:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:03:25.769Z","description":"\"Probably anywhere I would go would be safer than Boston\"","url":"https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/","keywords":["Charlottesville","Education","College","Virginia","Massachusetts","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a915201e45ba3f8/6988da3ccf40a89b0fc49077/nicholas-fuentes-boston-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a915201e45ba3f8/6988da3ccf40a89b0fc49077/nicholas-fuentes-boston-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Charlottesville Protest Boston Student","caption":"Charlottesville Protest Boston Student","creditText":"Teresa Crawford—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/charlottesville/","name":"Charlottesville"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/","name":"Student Who Attended Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally Leaves Boston University After Backlash"}}]}] ```