The white supremacist who garnered online infamy by weeping at the thought of being arrested for his violent actions has surrendered to police.
Christopher Cantwell turned himself in to authorities after learning that warrants had been issued for his arrest, according to The New York Times. He has been charged with two felony counts of illegal use of tear gas and one count of malicious bodily injury by means of a caustic substance, and turned himself in to the University of Virginia Police Department on Wednesday.
Cantwell initially attracted media attention in a Vice documentary about the Charlottesville protests. During the film, the white nationalist calls for an "ethno-state," defends the murder of 32-year-old protester Heather Heyer and predicted that more violence would occur during the protests.
He also told journalists last week that he believed he was going to be arrested for pepper-spraying a counter-protester. According to Cantwell, the individual he pepper-sprayed was "coming toward me" and he pepper-sprayed him because the other option was "to break this guy's teeth" with a flashlight.
Cantwell insisted, "I don’t think I did anything wrong, and I’m looking forward to my day in court."
Before achieving notoriety as the weeping Nazi — a dubious distinction he earned after posting an online video in which he cried at the prospect of being arrested for his actions in Charlottesville — Cantwell cut his political teeth as a men's rights Activist. Those views were evident in his interviews during the Charlottesville rally, particularly when he condemned President Donald Trump for "giving his daughter to a Jew" on the grounds that "I don’t think you can feel about race the way I do and watch that Kushner bastard walk around with that beautiful girl."
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