Robert Spencer

Robert Bruce Spencer (born February 27, 1962) is an American author and blogger and a key figure of the "counter-jihad" movement in the United States. He appears frequently on Fox News and has given seminars to various law enforcement units in the United States. Spencer, a self-proclaimed expert on radical Islam, has published a number of books on the subject including two New York Times bestsellers. In 2003 he founded and has since directed Jihad Watch, a blog which he describes as containing "news of the international jihad, [and] commentary" which is dedicated to "bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology plays in the modern world, and to correcting popular misconceptions about the role of jihad and religion in modern-day conflicts". He has also co-founded the anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and the Freedom Defense Initiative with blogger Pamela Geller, with whom he also co-authored a book, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America. His viewpoints have been described as anti-Islamic or Islamophobic, Spencer describes himself as "the “good” kind of Islamophobe." In 2013 the UK Home Office barred Spencer and Geller from travel to the UK for 3 to 5 years for "making statements that may foster hatred that might lead to inter-community violence".