White nationalist gets prison over rape threat, extortion
CONCORD, N.H (AP) — A self-proclaimed white nationalist was sentenced Wednesday to nearly three-and-a-half years in federal prison for threatening to rape the wife of a man who was part of a separate racist group that he believed was harassing him.
Christopher Cantwell, a 40-year-old New Hampshire resident and radio host, was found guilty in September of extortion and threatening to injure property or reputation, but not guilty of cyberstalking related to a series of threats he made toward a Missouri man over the Telegram messaging app.
Cantwell previously pleaded guilty to assault in 2018 after he was accused of using pepper spray during the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017. He didn’t serve additional jail time but was barred from Virginia for five years.
Judge Paul Barbadoro acknowledge that Cantwell has faced harassment but said the 41-month sentence reflected the nature of the threat against the woman.
“The threats made here by the defendant are abhorrent, shocking and extremely damaging,” Barbadoro said before handing down the sentence that also includes two years of supervised release.
Cantwell told his defense team that he wanted to appeal the sentence.
Dressed in a prison shirt and wearing a mask, Cantwell briefly spoke before the sentencing. He apologized to the woman for his comments and said his actions were driven by the months of harassment he endured at the hands of the Bowl Patrol, of which her husband was a member.
The group’s name is inspired by the haircut of Dylann Roof, sentenced to death for fatally shooting nine Black church members during a Bible study session in Charleston, South Carolina.
Members disrupted his radio show for months with pranks and defaced his website with pornography and violent content,...