White supremacist Chris Cantwell, who cried about being arrested, hands himself in to police

A white supremacist who was filmed as part of a documentary about the rally in Charlottesville Virginia, during which he declared "a lot more people are going to die before we're done", has handed himself into police. Christopher Cantwell handed himself over to authorities in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a violent rally took place on the 11 August.

Authorities had issued arrest warrants for him on two counts of illegal use of tear gas and other gases, and one count of malicious bodily injury with a caustic substance. He is currently being held at a regional jail before being passed to officials in Charlottesville.

Cantwell joined hundreds of neo-Nazis and white supremacists chanting "Jews will not replace us" and "White lives matter" in a protest against the plans to remove the statue of Confederate leader Robert E Lee.

He was filmed as part of a documentary for Vice and was defiant about his appearance at the rally. "We're not non-violent," Cantwell said. "We'll f*****g kill these people if we have to."

But he later appeared tearful in a self-shot video from hiding, and said that he feared he would be arrested - or even killed. "I do not want violence with you," he said, talking directly to police. "I'm terrified. I'm afraid you're going to kill me, I really am."

In an interview with the New York Times, Cantwell said that the outstanding arrest warrants were in relation to an incident during the rally when he pepper-sprayed someone, but said that the act was undertaken in self-defence.

He told the NYT: "I thought that spraying that guy was the least damaging thing I could do. In my left hand I had a flashlight. My other option, other than the pepper spray, was to break this guy's teeth. OK? And I didn't want to do that. I just wanted him to not hurt me."

On 12 August, the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was met by counter-protests. The day ended in violence when neo-Nazi Alex Fields allegedly drove his car into an crowd of anti-fascist protesters, killing Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring another 19 people. Fields was charged with second-degree murder and other offences and is set to appear in court on the 25 August.