Vice recently created a documentary that featured a prominent white nationalist from the bloody rally in Charlottesville, Va., who is now being sought by police.
The New York Times reported today that the Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in Virginia has issued four warrants for the arrest of Christopher Cantwell for his involvement in the violence, confirming an earlier report that he was wanted by police.
Although the office did not answer new inquiries about the nature of his warrants, the Boston Globe previously reported on Thursday that they were related to the “illegal use of gases, and injury by caustic agent or explosive.”
Speaking in interviews with the New York Times last weekend, Cantwell said should any charges be brought up against him, he believed they would be related to an altercation that was caught on camera.
In the widely-publicized photograph, Cantwell can be seen spraying an unknown substance at another individual. This altercation occurred during the infamous late-night “tiki march” that took place on the night before a woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a suspected white nationalist drove his car into the crowd the next day.
Cantwell claimed that he was “pepper-spraying a guy straight in his face as he’s coming towards me.”
“In my left hand I had a flashlight,” he said. “My other option, other than the pepper spray, was to break this guy’s teeth. OK? And I didn’t want to do that. I just wanted him to not hurt me.”
Emily Gorcenski, an Antifa supporter and transgender activist told the Times she filed a report against Cantwell with the University of Virginia police on August 12. She claims that the white supremacist “sprayed basically the whole group.”
“The whole thing was scary,” she said. “I was targeted by people wearing swastika pins. It was terrifying.”
Writing in a blog post on Sunday, Cantwell expressed fears that he will be going to jail for a long time for his actions.
“Tomorrow I’m more than likely going to find myself in a cage facing decades in prison,” he wrote. “It is entirely possible that this will be the last time you hear from me.”
Cantwell was recently banned from the dating website OkCupid following his appearance in the Vice documentary. OkCupid explained that their decision to terminate his account on the platform was tied to his racist views. He was also banned from Facebook last week.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
