Jury finds white nationalist guilty of rape threat

CONCORD, N.H — A self-proclaimed white nationalist who rose to prominence during a deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was found guilty Monday by a federal jury of threatening to rape the wife of a man who was part of a racist group he felt was harassing and bullying him.

Christopher Cantwell, a 39-yearold New Hampshire resident and radio host, was found guilty 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.

The jury deliberated for a few hours following the four-day trial. Cantwell faces up to 22 years in prison and will be sentenced Jan. 4. He will remain in Strafford County jail.

“We’re pleased that justice has been done and we’re glad to have been vindicated,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Davis said after the verdict.

Davis said he hoped there would be a “deterrent value” in the conviction that might resonate among “everyone on the internet and the white nationalist world and other worlds where really abhorrent things are said.”

“You do have a right to free speech and there is a First Amendment,” he said. “But when you violate the regulate norms that apply — you can’t threaten someone as part of an extortion attempt — it isn’t going to matter even if it is in the white nationalist internet world.”

Cantwell, dressed in a shirt and tie and wearing a mask, did not appear to show any visible reaction to the verdict. His defense team declined to comment.

Authorities say Cantwell used the Telegram messaging app to convey a threat last year that he would rape the man’s wife if he didn’t give up information about the leader of a white supremacist group of which the man was a member, authorities said. The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the identify of his wife.