White nationalist Nick Fuentes files motion to seal records in criminal case, citing safety concerns

Nicholas Fuentes, a white nationalist and far-right political pundit, has asked a Cook County judge to seal court records in his battery case, citing concerns about his safety.

Fuentes, 26, faces a misdemeanor count for allegedly pepper-spraying a woman and pushing her down the steps of his west suburban home in November when she approached his door.

The following month, an armed man who was a suspect in a downstate triple murder came to his door and repeatedly called for Fuentes before being shot and killed by police.

Fuentes’ attorney filed a motion Wednesday seeking to seal electronic and paper records in the battery case from public view.

“The defendant is cognizant of the right of public access to court documents,” Funetes’ attorney Robert Rascia wrote in the motion. “The defendant asserts here that the posting of his personal information, on the electronic docket and the physical court file, has created a dangerous and unsafe living condition for the defendant.”

Fuentes appeared in court via Zoom for his second hearing in the case on Thursday, but the motion was not addressed, according to a court spokesman. Fuentes is expected back in court March 10.

Court records are generally public documents. Like anyone charged in a criminal case in Cook County, Fuentes’ date of birth, home address and other identifying information appears in his court file.

“Since the docketing of the complaint, the defendant has been subjected to repeated intrusions at his residence by unknown individuals,” the motion states. “This includes an armed individual that attempted to illegally enter the defendant’s residence and was shortly thereafter shot and killed by members of the Berwyn Police Department.”

Rascia declined to comment after the hearing Thursday.

Fuentes’ home address was widely shared online, a practice called doxxing, after he made a misogynistic post on the website X, formerly known as Twitter, following the reelection of Donald Trump that read “your body, my choice. Forever,” an apparent reference to the “My body, my choice” slogan used by abortion rights supporters.

Fuentes, who has a history of making racist and antisemitic statements, including comments denying the Holocaust and praising Adolf Hitler, is a Lyons Township High School graduate. He’s previously dined with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, but has criticized the president-elect more recently.

Maria Rose, 57, told the Sun-Times she went to Fuentes’ house on Nov. 10 after learning from online posts that they both lived in Berwyn.

Rose alleged that Fuentes opened his door before she could ring is doorbell, sprayed a liquid believed to be pepper spray at her, pushed her and then took her phone, which she was using to record the encounter. The phone was later retrieved by Berwyn police.

Fuentes was charged Dec. 5 with a single misdemeanor count of battery and released on his own recognizance.

On Dec. 18, a Westchester man showed up at Fuentes’ door. In security camera footage Fuentes later posted on social media, 24-year-old John Lyons, wearing a motorcycle helmet and carrying a gun and small crossbow, can be seen outside home and calling his name.

Police responded and Lyons fled, entering a nearby home through an unlocked basement door and fatally shooting the residents' two dogs when he was confronted there, according to police records.

After fleeing again, Lyons was confronted by police and was fatally shot by officers when he fired in their direction, striking a police car, records show.

Hours earlier, Lyons is believed to have killed three members of a family in downstate Mahomet, including a former roommate named Caleb Mason who Lyons had sued over an alleged beating in June 2022.

It is unclear why Lyons went to Fuentes’ home.