Who Is Vasillios Pistolis? Marine Guilty Of Marching With Neo-Nazis In Charlottesville

A U.S. Marine who marched alongside Neo-Nazis in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was found guilty in a court-martial, ABC News reported.

Lance Cpl. Vasillios Pistolis participated in violent assaults at the rally last summer and bragged about it online. He was convicted Monday at a summary court-martial for failing to obey an order or regulation and making a false statement under Articles 92 and 107 in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Pistolis has been sentenced to 28 days of confinement, a reduction of two ranks and two-thirds of his pay for a month to be forfeited.

He has seven days to submit a request for clemency to the convening officer, ABC News reported.

The incident, first reported on by ProPublica and Frontline PBS, in May, spoke of an 18-year-old who participated in the violence that ensued at the rally and who then went online to boast.

Pistolis, at the time, used the handle VasillistheGreek and on Aug. 12, 2017, proudly claimed: “Today cracked 3 skulls open with virtually no damage to myself.”

According to the report, Pistolis was part of Neo-Nazi, White supremacist group Atomwaffen Division and was encouraged to be aggressive toward counterprotestors. He seemed to suggest he was ready to kill someone “if s--- goes down.”

That weekend, a data scientist and trans woman, Emily Gorcenski from Charlottesville fell victim to Pistolis’ aggression. In an online post that followed, Pistolis bragged about how he “drop kicked” that “tranny,” while also mentioning he kept a souvenir from the violent time — a blood-soaked flag, which he pointed out was “not my blood.”

Following the weekend, Pistolis returned to serving the U.S. Marine Corps. The ProPublica report said Pistolis left Atomwaffen division in late 2017 and joined up with another white supremacist group.

Journalists from ProPublica and Frontline obtained seven months of messages from a confidential chat room, and had interviews with a former member of Atomwaffen.

Pistolis was specifically identified through pictures of himself on his public Facebook page and images of himself he uploaded on to white supremacist chat rooms.

On being contacted, Pistolis denied being at the Charlottesville rally as well as assaulting Gorcenski. His online references to Gorcenski, Pistolis claimed, were jokes, while admitting harboring “alt-right” or white supremacist beliefs. He claimed he was infiltrating Atomwaffen on behalf of other white supremacist groups and was never a member.

Pistolis took down his social media profiles on being contacted by reporters from the publications, including his Twitter and Gab account. He became actively involved in online forums to connect with another neo-Nazi group the Traditionalist Workers Party, the report stated.

Gorcenski identified Pistolis as the person who kicked her, adding, “He’s telling the truth in these logs about what happened.”

According to the Marine Corps Times, Pistolis is assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

It appears Pistolis’ involvement in the neo-Nazi movement precedes him joining the armed forces. Online conversations involved him saying he was 16 when he first began hanging around the National Socialist Movement “and other skinheads.”

According to ProPublica, Pistolis listed “Mein Kampf,” the autobiography of American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell and the notorious 1978 novel about a race war in America “The Turner Diaries,” as some of his favorite books.

Following the chaotic scenes at Charlottesville, where white supremacists clashed with protestors and the anti-fascists, Pistolis told Atomwaffen members how to spot him in the videos that surfaced. “If you see a guy in a tracksuit that’s me,” he wrote. Pistolis sported a black-and-white Adidas track suit that evening.

Another Atomwaffen member, also an army soldier, pointed out to Pistolis he could face a court-martial if arrested for brawling. “So don’t get caught doing stupid s---,” the member wrote.

Speaking about Pistolis’ deliberate intention of causing harm, Gorcenski said, “He traveled here from out of state with the intent to do violence. His own statements match up perfectly to what’s happened.

“The military is supposed to protect American civilians and here we see that our soldiers are attacking American civilians — and celebrating it,” she added.