‘Crying Nazi' who became infamous after Unite the Right rally is back in legal hot water with strangulation charge
Christopher Cantwell was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday on one count of felony strangulation, as well as simple assault and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors.
Cantwell, 44, became notorious as one of the most visible participants in 2017's infamous Unite the Right rally, during which a group of marchers paraded through the University of Virginia's Charlottesville campus brandishing tiki torches while chanting, among other things, 'Jews will not replace us.' After the angry mob drew universal condemnation for its actions, during which non-violent counterprotester Heather Heyer was killed when a Unite the Right attendee intentionally drove his car over her, then-President Donald Trump further inflamed tensions by claiming there had been 'very fine people on both sides.'
On Tuesday, Cantwell told The Independent what led to his latest arrest, insisting the accusations were 'complete BS.'
'I didn't strangle anyone,' he argued. 'People who are trying to cause legal problems for other people know that they can escalate a misdemeanor to a felony by saying strangulation occurred.'
Cantwell laid the blame on a local man who entered his room, allegedly without permission, and also claimed he was the target of a previous break-in just over a week ago.
'This is New Hampshire, not North Korea, and I have every right to physically remove someone from my home when they refuse to leave upon being ordered to do so,' Cantwell went on. He said the person 'refused multiple verbal commands to leave while raising his voice to disturb neighbors and escalate the conflict. I used the absolute minimum amount of force that I could to remove a trespasser who physically resisted my attempts to remove him.'
The strangulation charge, which carries up to seven years behind bars, is defined under New Hampshire state law as 'the application of pressure to another person's throat or neck, or the blocking of the person's nose or mouth, that causes the person to experience impeded breathing or blood circulation or a change in voice.'
News of Cantwell's latest arrest was first revealed by Charlottesville-based journalist Molly Conger, host of the podcast Weird Little Guys, which exposes the activities of right-wing extremists.
Emily Gorcenski, a data scientist and antifascist researcher who was brutally attacked by Unite the Right attendees while covering the rally, began tracking Cantwell and other members of white supremacist groups in 2018. Although she said she 'cannot speak to the particulars' of Cantwell's latest run-in with the law, Gorcenski described him on Tuesday as having 'a history of violence.'
'But more than that, he has a history of trying to play the victim when being caught in his violent acts,' Gorcenski told The Independent. 'He did this when he was convicted in federal charges for extortion, he did this when he was sued for participating in a violent conspiracy against civil rights in Charlottesville, and he did this when I swore a complaint against him for violently assaulting me with pepper spray at the University of Virginia.'
From Cantwell's perspective, Gorcenski went on, 'his frequent violence is always just and his victims are always liars.'
'Unfortunately for him, there is rarely much overlap between Chris's world and the real world,' she said. 'I hope one day he learns to take accountability for his actions.'
Cantwell is a New York native who grew up in an affluent suburb on Long Island. He told the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch investigative unit that his father was one of 11,000 air traffic controllers fired in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan after refusing a back-to-work order amid a nationwide strike for better pay and increased benefits.
He has agitated for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government, for Democrats and 'communists' to be 'physically removed' from the country, and for white men to take multiple wives in an effort to produce more Caucasian babies.
Due to his federal conviction, Cantwell cannot presently vote, but has been vocal about the fact that he voted for 'God Emperor' Donald Trump in 2016.
'Do I have a capacity for violence? You f*****g bet I do,' Cantwell told Hatewatch prior to his 41-month federal prison sentence, which was handed down in September 2021. 'I carry two pistols, and I've been in multiple different types of combat training. I can f*****g harm a man, and I'll put an end to a life if I have to, but I don't particularly want to. I've been involved with enough violence to know that it can go very bad, and I take prudent measures to avoid getting myself into violent conflict.'
Cantwell earned the 'Crying Nazi' nickname after posting a video of himself in tears following the Unite the Right march, upon learning there was a warrant out for his arrest.
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