White nationalist facing arrest warrants after appearing on documentary

By at least one measure, Christopher Cantwell, a selfdescribed white nationalist, said he believed his decision to be interviewed in a Vice News report had ‘‘worked out magnificently.’’

The documentary has been viewed more than 44 million times since it aired on Aug. 14.

In it, Cantwell is shown calling for an ‘‘ethno-state’’ and saying that the death of a 32-year-old woman who was killed protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12 was justified, adding, ‘‘I think that a lot more people are going to die before we’re done here.’’

A week after the broadcast, Cantwell has emerged as a high-profile activist for the so-called “alt-right.” In that sense, he said in interviews, it is a victory because he drew the scorn of liberals.

‘‘The first thing you’ve got to understand is my job is to shock people,’’ Cantwell, 36, said in the first of two telephone interviews on Friday and Saturday.

But in many other ways, his actions and the public exposure have upended his life.

Since the rally in Charlottesville, the prospect of an arrest has loomed over Cantwell, who posted a video on Aug. 12 in which he choked back tears.

He gave a phone number that he said the authorities could use to contact him, and he said that since then, his voicemail has been ‘‘recording death threats faster than I can listen to them.’’

Officials at the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office of Albemarle County in Charlottesville said Monday morning that four warrants had been issued for Cantwell’s arrest. The office referred questions about the nature of the charges to the University of Virginia Police Department. A spokesman at the department did not respond to requests for comment Friday, Saturday and Monday.

The Boston Globe reported Thursday that the warrants were related to the ‘‘illegal use of gases, and injury by caustic agent or explosive.’’

In interviews Friday and Saturday, Cantwell said that if he were to face such charges, he believed they are connected to an episode he said was photographed by a journalist.

The image, he said, shows ‘‘that I’m pepper-spraying a guy straight in his face as he’s coming toward me.’’

‘‘I thought that spraying that guy was the least damaging thing I could do,’’ he added. ‘‘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.’’

Cantwell, who lives in New Hampshire and hosts a podcast, said he had read The Globe report but had not spoken with authorities in Virginia. He said he would turn himself in immediately if necessary.

‘‘I don’t think I did anything wrong, and I’m looking forward to my day in court,’’ he said Friday.

On Monday, he said in an email he was contacting his lawyer.