Christopher Cantwell, the neo-Nazi leader who was featured throughout Vice News Tonight’s viral special documenting the violence in Charlottesville, released a video in which he cries to police that he is “terrified” and “afraid” he will be killed.
Vice News Tonight’s “Charlottesville: Race and Terror” documents a reporter who was embedded with Cantwell’s neo-Nazi group throughout the chaotic weekend of violence in Charlottesville. Cantwell is shown defending police brutality toward black men, carrying numerous guns and even admitting that he “goes to the gym” to make himself more “capable of violence.”
At one point during the Vice report, Cantwell mocks Donald Trump for allowing his daughter to marry Jared Kushner, who he refers to as “a Jew.” He even said he would prefer the president to be “a lot more racist than Donald Trump.”
Cantwell paints himself as a tough guy who would “kill” if that was what it took to spread his beliefs.
“We’ll f——- kill these people if we have to,” he says directly to the camera.
In stark contrast, Cantwell doesn’t appear to be too tough in the video he released on Wednesday, after he learned of the warrant for his arrest, saying, “I’m terrified. I’m afraid you’re going to kill me — I really am.”
He starts off the video, addressed to police, saying he has learned there is a warrant out for his arrest but would need to appear at a public place to confirm the situation.
“I don’t think it’s wise for me to be going anywhere,” Cantwell said while getting choked up. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go there, frankly.”
Cantwell gets more emotional as the video goes on and, at one point, apologized to the camera for tearing up.
“I want to be peaceful, I want to be law abiding, OK? That was the whole entire point of this and I’m watching CNN talk about this as violent, white nationalist protest. We have done everything in our power to keep this peaceful,” he said.
He continues to cry when discussing that his group might talk a big game on the Internet but actually went through all the proper steps needed to organize the rally.
“We are trying to make this peaceful, we are trying to be law abiding,” he said through the tears. “Our enemies will not stop.”
He eventually says that he will surrender if police call him directly and assure him that they’re actually cops, because he is scared for his life.
White Nationalists Seek to 'Top' Charlottesville and 7 More Shockers From Vice News Doc (Photos)
Monday night's episode of "Vice News Tonight" on HBO took a deep dive into the violent white supremacist rallies that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. The short documentary has gone viral, featuring interviews with white supremacist leaders as well as with victims and activists in Charlottesville. Scroll through for the eight biggest shockers from the doc.
Vice News/HBO
1. White supremacists are proud of their violence.
"Of course we're capable [of violence]," said Christopher Cantwell, a white supremacist speaker for "Unite the Right." "I'm carrying a pistol, I go to the gym all the time. I'm trying to make myself more capable of violence."
2. White supremacists want a leader who is more racist than Donald Trump.
"I'm here to spread ideas, talk, in the hopes that someone more capable will do that," said Cantwell. "Someone like Donald Trump, who does not give his daughter to a Jew... A lot more racist than Donald Trump. I don't think you can feel about race the way I do and watch that Kushner bastard walk around with that beautiful girl, OK?"
Vice News/HBO
3. The alt-right wants to mimic "camaraderie" of the left.
"We don't have the camaraderie, we don't have the trust level that our rivals do," said Cantwell. "And that camaraderie and trust is built up through activism, and that is one of the tactics that we are adopting."
Vice News/HBO
4. The alt-right is ready to come out of the online woodwork.
"We are stepping off the internet in a big way," said Robert Ray, a writer for the white supremacist site Daily Stormer. "For instance, last night at the torch walk, there were hundreds and hundreds of us. People realize they are not itemized individuals, they are part of a larger whole because we have been spreading our memes, we have been organizing on the internet... as you can see today we greatly outnumbered the anti-white, anti-American filth... We're starting to slowly unveil a little bit of our power level. You ain't seen nothing yet."
5. White supremacists think their freedom of speech is under threat.
"We had a federal court order to have this rally... They don't want our speech because we're telling the truth," said David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the KKK. "We're talking about the ethnic cleansing of America and the destruction of the American way of life and a new Bolshevik-style society, with no freedom, no freedom of speech in this country. That's really where we're going in America and that's gotta change."
Vice News/HBO
6. Charlottesville residents feel unprotected in their own city.
"We told city council we did not want them here," said Timothy Porter, a Charlottesville resident. "They let them come. We told the police we did not want them here. They let them come. I had to jump out of the way, I almost got hit by the car my f---ing self... This is my town. We did not want those motherf---ers here, and now we got bodies on the ground."
Vice News/HBO
7. Violence harkens back to civil rights era of 1960s.
"I have a great-grandfather who literally has told me the same stories of what I have experienced today," said Montae Taylor, a student activist at the University of Virginia. "And the fact that I can look at what's going on and see what my grandfather was talking about--it's not scary, but it's appalling."
"This has always been the reality in Charlottesville," said local activist Tanesha Hudson.
Vice News/HBO
8. The alt-right want to "top" what happened in Charlottesville.
"I think [the car plowing into the crowd] was more than justified," said Cantwell. "The amount of restraint that our people showed out there I think was astounding... I'd say [the next protest] is going to be really tough to top but we're up to the challenge... I think that a lot more people are going to die before we're done here, frankly." Watch the Vice News doc here.
Alt-right members say they’re just getting started
Monday night's episode of "Vice News Tonight" on HBO took a deep dive into the violent white supremacist rallies that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. The short documentary has gone viral, featuring interviews with white supremacist leaders as well as with victims and activists in Charlottesville. Scroll through for the eight biggest shockers from the doc.