The 22-minute Vice documentary captured the events surrounding Saturday's planned Unite the Right rally - from Friday night's torch march reminiscent of KKK rallies to eerie calm on Sunday night.

The rally by neo-Nazis was halted as violence broke out in the Virginia city and a state of emergency was declared by the state's governor.

Vice correspondent Elle Reeve went behind the lines with white supremacists and, in particular, Cantwell, 36, who believes a race war is inevitable and argues for an "Anglo ethno state" without blacks, Jews or immigrants who aren't white.

Footage shows him reacting in pain after being pepper sprayed at the torch march and again ahead of the rally at Emancipation Park, where white supremacists gathered to protest the removal of a statue of a Confederate general.

As milk is poured into his eyes to relieve the burning sensation, a man with him chants "Heil Cantwell", playing off the Nazis' salute for Adolf Hitler.

Later, a shirtless and agitated Cantwell marches with other white supremacists after the rally was scuttled by riot police, and he blames anti-racism activists for sparking the violence.

Cantwell, who was due to speak at the rally, says: “We’re not non-violent, we’ll f***ing kill these people if we have to."

The documentary is filled with chilling declarations and warnings from white supremacists, including Robert Ray, who says: "We’re starting to slowly unveil a little bit of our power level, you ain’t seen nothing yet."

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Harrowing footage shows an aerial view of the car attack, which killed paralegal Heather Heyer, 32, and injured at least 19 others as anti-racism activists marched through the streets.

The following night, at a hotel in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, Cantwell is shown with two assault rifles, three handguns, a knife and body armour as he reflects on the weekend's violence.

The self-proclaimed fascist, who hosts a "shock jock" internet radio show, says: “I’d say it was worth it. We knew we were going to meet a lot of resistance.

"The fact that nobody on our side died I’d go ahead and call that points for us. The fact that none of our people killed anybody unjustly I think is a plus for us."

Cantwell, of Keene, New Hampshire, claims the driver who ploughed into pedestrians and two other vehicles was attacked first, denying that it was an unprovoked attack.

James Alex Fields Jr, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder after the car.

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Cantwell defended the driver and showed no rergets over the loss of life, saying: “He saw no way to get away from them except to hit the gas and, sadly, because our rivals are a bunch of stupid animals who don’t pay attention they couldn’t just get out of the way of his car.

“I think it was more than justified. The amount of restraint that our people showed out there, I think, was astounding.”

Cantwell, smirking, predicted further protests and more violence, adding: "I'd say [Charlottesville is] going to be really tough to top but we’re up to the challenge.

“I think a lot more people are going to die before we’re done here, frankly. Why? Because people die every day.

"People die violent deaths all of the time, this is part of the reason we want an etho state.”