Christopher Cantwell: Difference between revisions

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{{Quote|Jews will not replace us!|Cantwell at the Unite the Right rally.}}

'''Christopher Charles Cantwell''' is an American Neo-Nazi associated with the [[Alt-Right]]. He is best known for his appearance at the [[Unite the Right rally]] held by [[Jason Kessler]] in 2017, and the subsequent manhunt. He has also garnered criticism from other Alt-Right members for being a government informant, although he claims he only did this to get back at the notorious Left-wing terror group [[Antifa]].

== Early life ==

Cantwell grew up in Stony Brook, New York. His father was an air traffic controller and his mother a homemaker. He attended Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York.

In 2000, Cantwell pleaded guilty in Suffolk County, New York to driving while intoxicated (DWI), criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of stolen property. He later told Hatewatch, "I was involved in so much bullshit when I was a teenager, honestly, that like what I got caught for was the least of the shit I did." He received a second DWI charge between 2000 and 2009, and when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives he was facing a possible felony conviction and four years in jail for receiving two DWIs in ten years in New York.

In 2012, Cantwell moved to Keene, New Hampshire.

== Views ==

Cantwell has described himself as a member of the alt-right, a fascist, and a libertarian. The Anti-Defamation League includes Cantwell in its list of alt-right figures, and the Southern Poverty Law Center has profiled Cantwell, describing him as "an anti-Semitic, Alt-Right shock jock and an unapologetic fascist, who spews white nationalist propaganda with a libertarian spin".

By Cantwell's own account, he was originally "radicalized" to libertarianism in 2009 after listening to a presentation by former Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik. In 2009 he announced he would be running as a Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 1st District, but he did not collect enough signatures to get on the ballot. He has been repeatedly kicked out of libertarian organizations for his violent and racist views.

Cantwell has held strong anti-police views, including advocating for violence against police officers. In a June 2012 Facebook post about police hypothetically attempting to pull over a driver, he said, "It is my honest opinion that this driver would be morally justified in shooting that police officer at the moment the [police car's] lights go on." He was later removed from the Free State Project and banned from their events for this and other statements the group found to violate the libertarian non-aggression principle. Cantwell has posted photographs of himself dressed as a police officer who had been shot in the forehead for a 2014 Halloween party, and later that year he applauded the man who killed two police officers in New York City.

Over time, Cantwell has focused less on anti-police and anti-government activism, saying "I have become convinced that our problems are a lot more racial than anything....the police are not my biggest problem right now." In March 2018, white supremacist and internet troll Andrew Auernheimer, known online as weev, leaked a screenshot of an online conversation with Cantwell. In reply to a message from Auernheimer condemning other people for talking to police, Cantwell is shown saying "I talked to cops too, gonna talk to the feds soon most likely". Auernheimer replied to Cantwell to say "that's fucking shitty scumbag behavior," and in the post accompanying the screenshot criticizes Cantwell for being "an admitted government informant" and describes it as incompatible with Cantwell's calls for revolt. Soon after the leak, Cantwell published a blog post confirming that he was working with the government and claiming that he was doing so in an effort to get retribution at Antifa. This confirmation that he was working with law enforcement was met with anger from some members of the far-right.

Although Cantwell endorsed Donald Trump for president in January 2016, he has said that he hoped for a leader who was "a lot more racist than Donald Trump" and who "does not give his daughter to a Jew" (referring to Ivanka Trump's marriage to Jared Kushner.)

== Unite the Right Rally and aftermath ==

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[[Category:Mastermind]]

[[Category:Wrathful]]

[[Category:Anarchist]]

[[Category:Anti-LGBT]]

[[Category:Islamophobes]]

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 {{Quote|Jews will not replace us!|Cantwell at the Unite the Right rally.}}
 '''Christopher Charles Cantwell''' is an American Neo-Nazi associated with the [[Alt-Right]]. He is best known for his appearance at the [[Unite the Right rally]] held by [[Jason Kessler]] in 2017, and the subsequent manhunt. He has also garnered criticism from other Alt-Right members for being a government informant, although he claims he only did this to get back at the notorious Left-wing terror group [[Antifa]].
+== Early life ==
+Cantwell grew up in Stony Brook, New York. His father was an air traffic controller and his mother a homemaker. He attended Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, New York.
+In 2000, Cantwell pleaded guilty in Suffolk County, New York to driving while intoxicated (DWI), criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of stolen property. He later told Hatewatch, "I was involved in so much bullshit when I was a teenager, honestly, that like what I got caught for was the least of the shit I did." He received a second DWI charge between 2000 and 2009, and when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives he was facing a possible felony conviction and four years in jail for receiving two DWIs in ten years in New York.
+In 2012, Cantwell moved to Keene, New Hampshire.
+== Views ==
+Cantwell has described himself as a member of the alt-right, a fascist, and a libertarian. The Anti-Defamation League includes Cantwell in its list of alt-right figures, and the Southern Poverty Law Center has profiled Cantwell, describing him as "an anti-Semitic, Alt-Right shock jock and an unapologetic fascist, who spews white nationalist propaganda with a libertarian spin".
+By Cantwell's own account, he was originally "radicalized" to libertarianism in 2009 after listening to a presentation by former Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik. In 2009 he announced he would be running as a Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 1st District, but he did not collect enough signatures to get on the ballot. He has been repeatedly kicked out of libertarian organizations for his violent and racist views.
+Cantwell has held strong anti-police views, including advocating for violence against police officers. In a June 2012 Facebook post about police hypothetically attempting to pull over a driver, he said, "It is my honest opinion that this driver would be morally justified in shooting that police officer at the moment the [police car's] lights go on." He was later removed from the Free State Project and banned from their events for this and other statements the group found to violate the libertarian non-aggression principle. Cantwell has posted photographs of himself dressed as a police officer who had been shot in the forehead for a 2014 Halloween party, and later that year he applauded the man who killed two police officers in New York City.
+Over time, Cantwell has focused less on anti-police and anti-government activism, saying "I have become convinced that our problems are a lot more racial than anything....the police are not my biggest problem right now." In March 2018, white supremacist and internet troll Andrew Auernheimer, known online as weev, leaked a screenshot of an online conversation with Cantwell. In reply to a message from Auernheimer condemning other people for talking to police, Cantwell is shown saying "I talked to cops too, gonna talk to the feds soon most likely". Auernheimer replied to Cantwell to say "that's fucking shitty scumbag behavior," and in the post accompanying the screenshot criticizes Cantwell for being "an admitted government informant" and describes it as incompatible with Cantwell's calls for revolt. Soon after the leak, Cantwell published a blog post confirming that he was working with the government and claiming that he was doing so in an effort to get retribution at Antifa. This confirmation that he was working with law enforcement was met with anger from some members of the far-right.
+Although Cantwell endorsed Donald Trump for president in January 2016, he has said that he hoped for a leader who was "a lot more racist than Donald Trump" and who "does not give his daughter to a Jew" (referring to Ivanka Trump's marriage to Jared Kushner.)
 == Unite the Right Rally and aftermath ==
@@ Line 52: / Line 70: @@
 [[Category:Mastermind]]
 [[Category:Wrathful]]
+[[Category:Anarchist]]
+[[Category:Anti-LGBT]]
+[[Category:Islamophobes]]