On Saturday hundreds of white nationalists, alt-righters, and neo-Nazis traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia to participate in the “Unite the Right” rally. By Saturday evening three people were dead – one protester, and two police officers – and many more injured.
“VICE News Tonight” correspondent Elle Reeve went behind the scenes with white nationalist leaders, including Christopher Cantwell, Robert Ray, David Duke, and Matthew Heimbach — as well as counter-protesters. VICE News Tonight also spoke with residents of Charlottesville, members of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Charlottesville Police.
From the neo-Nazi protests at Emancipation Park to Cantwell’s hideaway outside of Virginia, “VICE News Tonight” provides viewers with exclusive, up close and personal access inside the unrest.
Crying Nazi Snowflake Needs A Safe Space
“Christopher Cantwell, a neo-Nazi who featured prominently in Vice News Tonight’s viral documentary of the Charlottesville protests that ended in terror, released a teary video addressed to police after learning of the warrant for his arrest, claiming “I’m terrified, I’m afraid you’re going to kill me, I really am.”
In the video, which you can watch above, a choked up Cantwell claimed that he was told there is a warrant out for his arrest, and that he was attempting to contact the police as he didn’t think it safe to “go anywhere.”
After a few pauses to pull himself together, a choked up Cantwell claimed “I want to be peaceful, I want to be law abiding, okay? 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. “We are trying to make this peaceful, we are trying to be law abiding.”
Those comments, of course, strike as wildly detached from reality. Cantwell, along with other white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, first descended on Charlottesville Friday night, gathering around a statue of Robert E. Lee with burning torches, throwing Nazi salutes and chanting “Jews will not replace us.”