Florida white nationalist extradited to Rock Hill, SC to face kidnapping, gun charges
A white nationalist and former Senate candidate who spoke at a deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va., has been extradited from Florida to South Carolina after being accused of kidnapping his family at gunpoint in December, officials said.
Augustus Sol Invictus will find out Thursday whether he gets a bond or will remain in the York County jail pending trial.
He waived extradition in Brevard County, Fla., and was picked up by Rock Hill police Wednesday, according to police in Rock Hill and Florida.
“We have Mr. Invictus in custody, and he has been booked into the Rock Hill jail,” said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department.
Tod Goodyear, spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, said Invictus was picked up around noon Wednesday to be transported to South Carolina. He had been in Florida since he was taken into custody Dec. 30, at a mall in Melbourne, Fla., according to the Miami Herald.
Invictus, 36, is accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head on Dec. 12, then forcefully taking her and their children from Rock Hill to Florida, according to Rock Hill police incident reports. His wife told police she escaped in Jacksonville, Fla., then returned to Rock Hill, where she lived at the time. She reported the incident then, according to police reports.
Invictus is charged with domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, police records show.
Domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature carries a potential penalty of 20 years in prison under South Carolina law. Kidnapping can carry as much as 30 years for a conviction, state law shows.
Invictus is expected to have an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon, officials said. A Rock Hill Municipal Court judge will decide if he receives bail or remains held without bond.
‘Unite the Right’ rally speaker
Invictus spoke at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. One woman was later killed and several people were hurt when James Fields rammed his car into a crowd.
Invictus ran for Senate in Florida in 2016 as a libertarian. During his Senate campaign, Invictus drew attention for his claim that he killed a goat and drank its blood in a pagan ritual, the Miami Herald reported.
He acknowledged that he is friends with white supremacists, and, though he denied his affiliation then, was praised and credited by white nationalist leader Richard Spencer as writing the first draft of the Charlottesville statement, according to the Miami Herald.
Now an Orlando-area attorney, Invictus runs The Revolutionary Conservative, a website marketed as an alternative to conservative media that “play the victim” and calls for a violent uprising, the Miami Herald reported.
His arrest has been reported nationally by Fox News, CBS, Newsweek, and other national media outlets.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
