By Damien Fisher
White supremacist podcaster and convicted felon Christopher Cantwell is back in trouble after he was charged with assault this weekend in an incident at his Manchester rooming house.
Cantwell, 44, who earned the moniker the “Crying Nazi” for his antics at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was arrested around 2 a.m. on Saturday and charged with felony second degree assault – strangulation, and two misdemeanors for simple assault and criminal mischief, according to Manchester Police records.
Cantwell told British news outlet The Independent he did not strangle anyone, but that he simply tried to get someone to leave his room.
“This is New Hampshire, not North Korea, and I have every right to physically remove someone from my home when they refuse to leave upon being ordered to do so,” Cantwell told The Independent. “I used the absolute minimum amount of force that I could to remove a trespasser who physically resisted my attempts to remove him.”
Cantwell was released from federal prison in 2022 after he was convicted of threatening another white supremacist in a convoluted case that ended his podcasting show.
Cantwell and his show ran afoul of a hate-group known as The Bowl Patrol, named for the haircut of racist mass shooter Dylan Roof. The group started harassing him online and Cantwell sought to retaliate.
Cantwell had been trying to tone down his extremist, violent image by launching a new podcast that sought to offer more of a mainstream, conservative view than his typical white supremacist fare. At the time, Cantwell complained online that his white supremacist podcast was losing money.
Members of the Bowl Patrol started their harassment campaign in reaction to Cantwell’s attempt to soften his image.
Bowl Patrol member Ben Lambert, also known as Cheddar Mane, became the target for Cantwell’s extreme response, according to court records. Cantwell tried to pressure Lambert to divulge the identity of Bowl Patrol leader, known online as Vic Mackey, with violent threats.
“So if you don’t want me to come and f… your wife in front of your kids, then you should make yourself scarce[.] Give me Vic, it’s your only out.” Cantwell wrote. “Get a f…king life or you will lose the one you have,” Cantwell wrote. “You’re the one who is going to suffer cause you’re the one I can get.”
Cantwell had his former girlfriend, Katelyn “Peach” Fry fly to Lambert’s home in Missouri to take photos of Lambert, his wife, and children, according to court records. Prosecutors played an audio recording at the trial of Cantwell telling Fry he was considering going to law enforcement about the Bowl Patrol harassment or doing harm to Lambert himself.
“The only choices that I have are to go to law enforcement or to go to hunt this f…ing asshole down and commit a crime myself. Those are the two choices that I have,” Cantwell told Fry in the recording.
Cantwell did go to the FBI to report the harassment, but after he made threats to Lambert, according to court records. Cantwell’s conversation with FBI agents kickstarted the investigation that led to his 2020 arrest. Police took 17 guns out of Cantwell’s Keene apartment, as well as steroids, according to court records.
Cantwell was caught on video crying at the 2017 Unite the Right rally over fears he might get arrested. The white supremacists attacked counter protesters at the rally, leading to the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer.
In 2018, Cantwell pleaded guilty to two assault charges for pepper spraying two people at the rally, and he was ordered to stay out of Virginia as a result. In 2021, Cantwell and other white supremacists at the Unite the Right rally were found liable in a civil lawsuit alleging conspiracy. He and the others were all ordered to pay $500,000 each in damages.
Cantwell is a New York native who came to New Hampshire as part of the early Free State Project migration. He fell in with the Free Keene group led by Ian Freeman. However, Free Keene repudiated Cantwell when he started advocating violence. Freeman is currently serving his own prison sentence for a Bitcoin money laundering conviction.