A civil case pitting a Keene, N.H., white supremacist against two Virginia residents who accused him of assault has ended, with all parties agreeing to drop their claims.
Christopher Cantwell, the Keene-based host of a podcast where he disseminates his racist and anti-Semitic views, became infamous last year after he was featured in a Vice News documentary about the August 2017 white-nationalist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va.
Cantwell then posted a video online in which he tearfully discussed his impending arrest, drawing widespread mockery.
After the clashes in Charlottesville, Cantwell was charged with assaulting two counter-protesters — Emily Gorcenski and Kristopher Goad — with pepper spray the night of Aug. 11, 2017.
That December, Cantwell filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Virginia, claiming Gorcenski and Goad “swore out false and fraudulent criminal warrants” to persecute him for his political beliefs. In turn, Goad and Gorcenski countersued Cantwell for $1 million.
In their countersuit, they said Cantwell waged a campaign of online harassment against them, including posting their photos to his website above a song about “gassing” Jews and transgender people. Gorcenski is transgender.
According to an agreement recently filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia, both sides agreed to dismiss all claims, ending both Cantwell’s lawsuit and Goad’s and Gorcenski’s countersuit.
Cantwell’s lawyer and a lawyer for Goad and Gorcenski did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Cantwell pleaded guilty in July to two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery stemming from his use of pepper spray at the Aug. 11 demonstration, the night before the Saturday rally at which a vehicle rammed into counter-protesters, killing one.
Cantwell was sentenced to two concurrent 12-month sentences, with all but seven months suspended, avoiding further jail time because of credit for time served.
He is barred from entering Virginia for five years.
Separately, Cantwell has been named as a defendant in at least two civil suits stemming from the August 2017 violence in Charlottesville.
The plaintiffs in both suits — one in a Virginia state court, the other in U.S. District Court in Virginia — say they suffered physical or emotional harm because of the white-nationalist demonstrations and accompanying violence on Aug. 11 and 12.
The lawsuits list Cantwell as one of about 30 white-nationalist figures and organizations that allegedly helped organize or promote the rallies or participated in violence while there.
Both cases remained open as of Monday, according to online court records.