"Alright, Ben Shapiro, you've spun your last dreidel," said an extreme far-right activist in a video, before he fired three shots from a revolver at a gun range in a video posted by The Informant's Nick Martin on Monday.
Aidan Duncan, who also goes by the pseudonym Smiley the Fren, joked about shooting American Conservative Jewish political commentator Shapiro in a now-deleted Instagram video of Duncan at a gun range in Nevada, Martin reported.
CW: AntisemitismOn Saturday, racist Aidan Duncan (aka "Smiley the Fren") of Colorado posted this video on Instagram showing him at a gun range in Nevada. In it, he speaks to the camera and says: "Alright, Ben Shapiro, you've spun your last dreidel." He then fires three shots. pic.twitter.com/GKJSuyMt0Q
— Nick Martin (@nickmartin) July 18, 2022
Duncan's comments referenced Shapiro's Orthodox Jewish faith — A dreidel is a traditional spinning top played with by Jews on the holiday of Hannukah.
Responses to the threat
"It's not even Chanukah season, you idiot," Shapiro said in response.
"Once again, fellow Jews, arm yourselves if you feel comfortable with it."
Cameron Gray
A Twitter account allegedly belonging to Duncan responded to the attention by challenging Shapiro to a debate.
The account associated with Duncan also shared a one Twitter user responding to Martin's exposing of Duncan by threatening that "when your crumbling system inevitably fails, we're retaking Colorado, for God, and banning gays, Jews, and journo [journalist] scum like you from ever laying eyes on our glorious gold plains or our majestic mountain peaks. No more women behind the wheel, either."
Supporters of Shapiro also reacted strongly to Duncan's video.
"People have been telling the Jewish people that we’ve spun our proverbial last dreidel for over 2000 years," wrote Jewish educator David Bashevkin in response to the shooting range video. "But here we are. Still spinning."
"Once again, fellow Jews, arm yourselves if you feel comfortable with it," advised radio producer Cameron Gray.
Shapiro and antisemitism
Duncan is associated with the Groyper movement, an extreme-right white nationalist group that generally follows political commentator Nick Fuentes, who also has a history of antisemitic comments and antagonism toward Shapiro. On Duncan's Instagram, he can be seen posing for photos with several far-right activists, including Fuentes.
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"Alright, Ben Shapiro, you've spun your last dreidel."
Aidan Duncan
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Shapiro was the Jewish journalist most targeted with antisemitism on Twitter in 2016.
Shapiro is set to headline at an event in Telv Aviv hosted by Tel Aviv International Salon in partnership with CPAC, Shiboleth and Sela Meir.