Peter Cvjetanovic | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1996 (age 28–29) Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Other names | Peter Cytanovic |
| Alma mater | University of Nevada, Reno London School of Economics |
| Employer(s) | University of Nevada, Reno (2017) Nevada National Guard (2019-2021) |
| Organization | Identity Evropa |
| Known for | White nationalism,Unite the Right rally protesting |
Peter Cvjetanovic (also known asPeter Cytanovic;[1] born 1996) is awhite supremacist American known for being photographed while demonstrating with other white nationalists includingNeo-Nazis,Proud Boys andKu Klux Klan members on the Grounds ofUniversity of Virginia at theUnite the Right rally in 2017.[2]
Cvjetanovic worked as a driver for theUniversity of Nevada, Reno where he was a student in 2017, and was a soldier in theNevada National Guard from 2019 to 2021. He was dismissed from the National Guard in 2021 after a background check for asecurity clearance revealed his history of extremism.
During an interview in 2019, Cvjetanovic said that he no longer considered himself a white nationalist,[3] and had begun volunteering with a counter-extremism organization.[2]
Cvjetanovic was born inReno, Nevada[4] in 1996.[2][1] His father worked at a casino; his mother received a brain cancer diagnosis during her pregnancy with him and the cost of her treatment left the family cash strapped.[2] He grew up in a household that he described as impoverished and Catholic.[2]
Cvjetanovic graduated fromNorth Valleys High School in Reno, in 2014.[5] He studied history and political science[5] at the University of Nevada, Reno earning a bachelor's degree in 2018.[1][4]
In 2017, Cvjetanovic was awhite nationalist[5] and a member ofIdentity Evropa, a group that theSouthern Poverty Law Center has labeled as ahate group.[6] A photograph of Cvjetanovic andTeddy Joseph Von Nukem holdingtiki torches at theUnite the Right rally became the image most commonly used to represent the 2017 right-wing protest inCharlottesville, Virginia.[7] ABoston Globe opinion piece bymedia studies professor Aniko Bodroghkozy[8] described Cvjetanovic as sporting a "Hitler Youth haircut" in the photograph.[9]
Cvjetanovic resigned as a driver[4] for the University of Nevada, Reno in 2017, while continuing his studies there.[1] Cvjetanovic worked for the campus escort service, PackRides, which provides safe after-hours transportation for students between 5 and 10 pm, and provides weekend transportation to retail shops.[10] Earlier, the university declined to terminate his employment, despite public pressure to do so, citing Cvjetanovic's right to freedom of expression.[11] In a 2017 interview,[12] Cvjetanovic discussed his decision to resign, citing that students might not "appreciate" him as their chauffeur.
During a 2017 interview on local television about his role in the rally, Cvjetanovic denied being racist, but also spoke of "the slow replacement of white heritage in the United States" and describedConfederate generalRobert E. Lee as someone that he "wanted to honour [for] what he stood for during his time."[13] Cvjetanovic described the far-left andAntifa as "just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than the right wing could ever be."[14]
By 2019 Cvjetanovic, who reported receiving five credible death threats after the photograph went viral on social media,[5] had left the United States and was living inLondon where he was studying for a master's degree in political theory at theLondon School of Economics and volunteering for Groundswell, a counter-extremism organisation.[2][15] In an interview with the university's student newspaper that year he said he had "never" been aneo-Nazi, and did not understand what the termwhite nationalist meant when he described himself as one.[3]
He is one of eight people featured inCharlotte McDonald-Gibson's 2022 bookFar Out: Encounters with Extremists.[2]
Back in the US, after being indicted by a grand jury inAlbemarle County, Virginia, Cvjetanovic was arrested inWashoe County, Nevada in July 2023 and was held without bail in the Washoe County jail on a felony fugitive warrant from Charlottesville awaiting extradition to Virginia. The warrant for his arrest was later withdrawn by authorities in Virginia and he was released.[16][17] During an interview for thePop Culture Crisis podcast he stated that he had "been charged with intimidation for Charlottesville."[18]
Cvjetanovic enlisted in the Nevada National Guard in 2019, asSpecialist but was discharged in 2021, after background checks highlighted his extremism.[1]
Since 2019, he has struggled to find employment due to his infamy.[2]