White nationalist featured in documentary surrenders to Charlottesville police
— -- Chris Cantwell, the white nationalist featured in a Vice documentary about the rallies held in Charlottesville in mid-August, surrendered to police late Wednesday.
Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail confirmed to ABC news that Cantwell was being held at their facility. He is being held on three felony charges, including two counts of illegal use of tear gas and one count of unlawful release of gas causing injury. All of the charges stem from the Aug. 11 march in Charlottesville.
Cantwell admitted to The Associated Press on Tuesday -- one day before he turned himself in -- that he had pepper sprayed a counterprotester, but said it was done in self defense.
The 36-year-old from New Hampshire hosts a call-in talk show popular with white nationalists called "Radical Agenda," which he streams online on Facebook and Ustream. The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization dedicated to policing hate groups, quote Cantwell as saying he wants to "normalize racism."
Cantwell was featured prominently in the Vice News documentary "Charlottesville: Race and Terror," which aired on HBO on Aug. 14.
Cantwell was present at the rallies on the University of Virginia campus in mid-August which turned deadly on Aug. 12 when police say a counterprotester was run over by a car driven by a white nationalist. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed and 19 others were injured in the attack. Ohio native James Alex Fields, 20, was charged in the car-ramming attack.
ABC News' Chad Murray contributed to this report.
