White nationalist held on Charlottesville charge given bond

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A white nationalist who says he pepper-sprayed a demonstrator in self-defence on the campus of the University of Virginia has been granted bond.

Local media outlets report that 37-year-old Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, was given $25,000 secured bond at a hearing Monday in Albemarle Circuit Court. He will have home electronic monitoring and must stay in Virginia.

The Daily Progress reports that Cantwell will not be released until he can find a court-approved home in Virginia.

Cantwell is charged with malicious bodily injury. University of Virginia police obtained a warrant after Cantwell allegedly pepper-sprayed a counter-demonstrator on Aug. 11, the day before a white nationalist rally on the UVA campus ended in deadly violence.

Cantwell earlier told The Associated Press he pepper-sprayed a demonstrator in self-defence.