Infamous Charlottesville torch march figure from the ‘Unite the Right’ rally dies before Fentanyl trafficking trial

One of the defining faces of the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, which saw unabashed fascists and white supremacists riot in the streets and saw the death of a counter-protestor has died ahead of a drug trafficking trial.

Teddy Von Nukem (name changed in 2012) was at the center of some of the defining images of Charlottesville, Virginia riots. Known to have taken great joy in his image becoming synonymous with fascism and one of the many holding the tiki torches chanting “Jews will not replace us,” Von Nukem has died just before facing trial.

The Charlottesville riots culminated in tragedy, as Heather Hayer fell victim to a white supremacist terrorist attack which took her life. Hayer’s death sparked widespread outrage and disgust, with her murderer facing a life sentence. All of this the result of a hateful ideology which lives only to spread fear, violence, and divide.

Facing investigation over alleged Fentanyl trafficking, Von Nukem died the same day as the trial was set to begin, on Jan. 31. While the world was shocked by the scenes in Charlottesville, like many in his far-right cohort, Von Nukem hoped it would spark a new career and following for him.

Von Nukem bragged in online forums around his involvement with the riots, as well as taking joy in assaulting a man (which lines up with accounts of an assault on an unarmed Black man by several white supremacists) in a parking garage. Charlottesville-based investigative writer and activist Molly Conger put together a Twitter thread which pieces together digital and legal documents about Von Nukem, with The Daily Beast also confirming the death of the attempted insurgent.

Many Twitter users met Conger’s viral announcement thread in tones of subdued, to overt celebration. Not a reaction generally deemed kosher in most objective media reports of fatalities, celebration. But given the role he played in the Charlottesville riots and beyond; that is, overt participation in, and public avowal of a Fascist violence leading to hundreds of fatal losses in marginalized and minority communities worldwide — Von Nukem made himself hard to mourn.

To quote Hayer herself in one final, goosebump-inducing Facebook post: If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.