White Nationalist Media Personality Loses Conviction Appeal

White nationalist media personality Christopher Cantwell lost his bid to reverse criminal convictions for extortion and threats to injure property or reputation on Wednesday.

Cantwell claimed that the government relied on statements by a non-testifying witness, that the jury instruction to not consider Cantwell’s provocation defense was improper, and that the court abused its discretion by not imposing a lower-than-guidelines sentence. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected all three claims.

The charges stemmed from a message exchange between Cantwell and Benjamin Lambert, a member of a hate group called the Bowl Patrol. The group had a ...