Police said a white nationalist who says he pepper-sprayed a demonstrator in self-defense on the campus of the University of Virginia has turned himself in.
Campus police issued a statement late Wednesday saying Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, was taken into custody at the police department in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Cantwell was recently featured in a documentary filmed by Vice News about the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month where one person died after an alleged neo-Nazi used his vehicle in a car ramming attack.
Image made from a video provided by Vice News Tonight, Christopher Cantwell attends a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va
Cantwell and dozens of marchers carrying torches and chanting ‘Jews will not replace us’ and ‘White lives matter’ can be seen demonstrating on the campus just hours before the Heather Heyer, 32, was killed while participating in a counter-protest.
Cantwell was wanted on three felony charges: two counts of the illegal use of tear gas or other gases and one count of malicious bodily injury with a ‘caustic substance,’ explosive or fire.
A brief university police statement says Cantwell was being held at a regional jail in Lynchburg pending transport to Charlottesville.
It wasn’t immediately known if Cantwell has a lawyer.
Before his arrest Tuesday, Cantwell posted a video on August 12 showing him choke back tears as he expressed his fears about being arrested about the pepper-spraying incident.
Police say Cantwell, who says he pepper-sprayed a demonstrator in self-defense on the campus of the University of Virginia, turned himself in on Tuesday
Cantwell posted a video online last week choking back tears as he expressed fear of being arrested
Cantwell was being held at a regional jail in Lynchburg pending transport to Charlottesville
‘I thought that spraying that guy was the least damaging thing I could do,’ he said. ‘In my left hand I had a flashlight. 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.’
Contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press, Cantwell acknowledged he had pepper-sprayed a counter demonstrator during an Aug. 11 protest, a day before a deadly demonstration in Charlottesville.
He insisted he was defending himself, reiterating that he did it ‘because my only other option was knocking out his teeth.’
He said he looked forward to his day in court.