White nationalist who spoke at Charlottesville arrested on fugitive warrant charges

MELBOURNE, Fla. – A man linked to neo-Nazis and who once ran for the U.S. Senate and headlined a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that led to three deaths, was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Melbourne earlier this week.

The arrest, carried out by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, happened at Melbourne Square Mall at about 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Authorities said Augustus Sol Invictus, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a promoter of white supremacist notions on race and as someone who questioned whether the Holocaust happened, was arrested on a warrant out of Rock Hill, South Carolina. 

The warrant listed charges for kidnapping, domestic violence and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence but offered no explanation of the circumstances. Invictus appeared on court on New Year’s Day. He also waived extradition. South Carolina authorities have 10 business days to take custody of Invictus while he’s held on the out-of-state warrant.

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Invictus rose to prominence in alt-right circles by using provocative tactics to call attention to his views on race, the civil rights movement and what he and others saw as the overthrow of white civilization with the removal of Civil War statues across the nation.

In July 2017, he ran a failed bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on the Libertarian ticket. 

In August 2017, Invictus was the headline speaker at a neo-Nazi 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, where three people were killed in events surrounding the gathering, including Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old counterprotester with ties to Brevard County.

Invictus, who has an Ocala address listed on the arrest affidavit submitted by the Sheriff’s Office, is being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail Complex in Sharpes.

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