'I'm terrified': White nationalist Christopher Cantwell cries in video about Charlottesville protest

A white nationalist who was featured in a Vice News documentary about the "Unite the Right" Charlottesville marchers at the weekend has posted a video in which he tearfully complains about his current plight.

Christopher Cantwell took part in the rally in support of Confederate hero Robert E Lee in Virginia on Saturday, which escalated to violence and ended in the death of a woman. 

“I have been told there’s a warrant out for my arrest,” he said while crying on the video. “With everything that’s happening, I don’t think it’s very wise for me to go anywhere. There’s a state of emergency. The National Guard is here!”

“I want to be peaceful. I want to be law-abiding. That was the whole entire point of this,” Cantwell continues. “I’m watching CNN talk about this as a violent, white nationalist protest. We have done everything in our power to keep this peaceful!” he added.

Warning: Video contains offensive language.

He also said urged police to contact him if there was a warrant out for his arrest.

“I am armed, I do not want violence with you. I’m terrified, I’m afraid you’re going to kill me, I really am,” he said.

“If I gotta go to jail today, you know it won’t be the f------* first time… I honestly believe I have been law-abiding. I have been engaged in violence, I have, there’s no question about it and I’ve done nothing to hide that but it was in defence of myself and others and I would not have done it for any other reason,” he added.

Cantwell was banned from Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday, while a page connected to his podcast was removed.

Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja also said at least eight pages connected to the white nationalist movement were taken down over what Budhraja said were violations on the company's polices on hate speech and organisations.

Cantwell, of Keene, New Hampshire, was listed on rally flyers and labelled an extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. A former information technology worker who moved to New Hampshire from New York in 2012, the 36-year-old Cantwell describes himself as a white nationalist and said he voted for President Donald Trump. He has a podcast and blog that promote his views.

Cantwell says Facebook shut down his account in an attempt to silence him for his views. He also said his PayPal account had been closed. The company wouldn't confirm that because it has a policy of not commenting on the status of accounts.

"I'm not surprised by almost any of this because the whole thing we are complaining about here is that we are trying to express our views, and everybody is going through extraordinary lengths to make sure we are not heard," Cantwell told AP in a phone interview from an undisclosed location.

"Frankly, whatever you think of my views, that is very scary to me," he said. "Facebook and Instagram is one thing but not being able to participate in the financial system because of your political opinions is something that, you know, people should worry about in America."