Speaker at 鈥楿nite The Right鈥� Rally Charged
Virginia authorities have arrested and charged a white nationalist once prominent in the 鈥渁lt-right鈥� for his involvement in a torchlit march the night before the deadly 2017 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Hatewatch has learned.
Augustus Sol Invictus, 39, faces one charge of burning an object with the intent to intimidate, according to documents from the Albemarle Circuit Court. The documents indicate that a grand jury indicted Invictus on April 3. Court documents list the date of Invictus鈥� alleged offense as Aug. 11, 2017, the same night that scores of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists staged a torchlit march on the University of Virginia campus. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Invictus was initially arrested in June in his native Orange County, Florida, and charged with being a fugitive from justice. The Albemarle Circuit Court lists Invictus鈥� arrest date as July 20. His first court appearance in Virginia was a bond hearing, held on July 25. Invictus was granted $7,500 bond. The court set a jury trial date of March 20, 2024.
Hatewatch reached out to Invictus over two different email accounts. He did not respond. Hatewatch also reached out to Invictus prior to publication over text message and did not receive a response.
Invictus was scheduled to speak at the Aug. 12, 2017, 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally the day after the torch march, appearing alongside a slew of prominent white nationalists, neo-Nazis and far-right extremists, including Richard Spencer, Mike 鈥淓noch鈥� Peinovich, Jason Kessler, Matthew Heimbach聽and Anthime Joseph Gionet, who conducts his activism under the name 鈥淏aked Alaska.鈥� Speeches never took place, as the day devolved into violence. Invictus appears to be the first scheduled speaker arrested and charged under the burning-objects statute.
Photos from the Aug. 11 torch march show someone who appears to be Invictus holding a tiki torch on the University of Virginia campus. An Aug. 19, 2017, 聽quotes Invictus as saying, 鈥淪omebody forgot the pitchforks at home, so all we got is torches鈥� during the march.
Since April, a 聽have been charged under the same statute, including William Henry Fears IV of Texas; Dallas Medina of Ohio; William Zachary Smith of Texas; and Tyler Bradley Dykes of South Carolina. Medina was released on bond in April. Officials also released Smith, who pleaded guilty to burning an object with the intent to intimidate, in early May on a $10,000 bond. He is set to return to court for sentencing on Aug. 7.
James Hingeley, the commonwealth鈥檚 attorney for Albemarle County, said in a statement in April that the indictments 鈥渨ere issued as part of a criminal investigation that is active and ongoing.鈥�
Invictus, who legally changed his name from Austin Mitchell Gillespie in 2006, has a long history of allegations of violence聽against women, as Hatewatch has previously reported. In January 2020, police in South Carolina arrested Invictus, after someone who said she was his wife told police that he had held her at gunpoint in front of their children and commanded her to accompany him to Jacksonville, Florida, as Hatewatch reported at the time. Shortly after Invictus was released from jail in South Carolina on charges related to the incident in January, he returned to Orange County, Florida. In late April the same year, law enforcement arrested Invictus on charges of aggravated stalking.
A civil suit filed against 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� organizers identified Invictus as one of the organizers behind the Aug. 11 torch march. Court documents from the trial describes Invictus as having livestreamed the event.
The original complaint describes an incident in which one of the plaintiffs witnessed Invictus 鈥渉arass and intimidate a friend鈥� on the night of Aug. 11. The document goes on to state that Invictus then turned to the plaintiff, who is a reverend and had just come from conducting a religious service near the University of Virginia campus. Invictus, the complaint says, 鈥渒ept moving forward鈥� even as the plaintiff walked back. He then proceeded to hound the plaintiff 鈥渋n a challenging and highly aggressive tone鈥� in an effort to force him to reveal his church denomination, according to the complaint.
This January, over a year after the conclusion of the Sines v. Kessler聽civil trial, a federal court in Virginia partially granted a default judgment against Invictus, who declined to participate in the trial, for violating Virginia鈥檚 hate crime statute. The court also issued a default judgment against the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights聽(FOAK), a short-lived Proud Boys-affiliated group that Invictus helped lead, for violating a Virginia state civil conspiracy law.
Jason Kessler, one of the main organizers of 鈥淯nite the Right,鈥� listed Invictus among the speakers for the Aug. 12, 2017, rally, in a June 7, 2017, message sent to prospective 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� attendees on the messaging app Discord. In a subsequent message in the same chatroom, Kessler announced that Invictus had invited European white supremacist 聽and added that Brittany Pettibone, Sellner鈥檚 wife and a far-right YouTuber, was expected to attended.
鈥淎ugustus Invictus said he was going to try to bring Martin Sellner. Kyle CHapman [sic] said Pettibone coming as a journalist,鈥� Kessler wrote.
Kyle Chapman, who became famous among the far-right for assaulting counterprotesters, is the founder of FOAK, the Proud Boys-affiliated group that Invictus helped run.
Hatewatch reached out to Kessler over text message for comment. He did not respond.
Richard Spencer, who attended the event聽as a headline speaker, has credited Invictus with drafting an early version of the a manifesto released in the run-up to the rally.
Spencer, in a request for comment, told Hatewatch that he was not aware of whether Invictus played a major role in organizing the Aug. 11 or 12th events and described the process of selecting speakers for the main 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally as 鈥渄isorganized.鈥�
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
