CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Jason Kessler, the organizer of the August white-supremacist at the University of Virginia. Kessler is accused of sharing a protesters’ home address on Twitter, which was later followed by a false report to police that she was brandishing a gun.
The warrant was sworn out Emily Gorcenski in front of a Charlottesville City magistrate for “use of a person’s identity with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass.” The Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine. Kessler was not in custody as of 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to a law enforcement source.
On Oct. 3, a Twitter account called New Byzantium tweeted the name, address and a photograph of the home of Gorcenski. A previous tweet from that account shows it is linked to Kessler. Most of Kessler's past tweets about Gorcenski have since been deleted.
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Five days later, a someone called 911 to bring police to Gorcenski's home.
"It was a call saying there was a disturbance of some sort with someone with a gun," Gorcenski said. "I don't know who called it in but it came just days after my address was tweeted. I'm not accusing Jason of making that call."
Gorcenski and another protester were pepper sprayed by Christopher Cantwell on Aug. 11, leading her to swear out a warrant on Cantwell resulting in his arrest. Cantwell is charged with illegal use of gasses and causing injury by caustic agent or explosive.
Kessler was recently convicted of assault and is currently facing a felony charge of after he falsely stated that the victim of that assault hit him first. (Security camera footage showed the victim had not hit first.) Last week Kessler also appeared as a witness in the trial of three attendees of the August 12th 'Unite The Right' rally who were charge with failure to disperse after an unlawful assembly was declared by police. Kessler's testimony appeared to undermine the case made by Elmer Woodard, the colorful attorney who is also representing Cantwell.
If denied bond, he would join seven other white supremacists being held in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail in a special cell block designated for the growing list of inmates implicated in crimes related to the August 12th riot. They are considered to be at high risk if included in the general population of inmates from the community who are awaiting trial.
