Augustus Sol Invictus — Setting the record straight
This case concerns the August 11 torch march at the University of Virginia — not the August 12 car attack, and not those deaths.
What happened on August 11, 2017
On the night of August 11, 2017, a torchlight march took place on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville — a prelude to the permitted Unite the Right rally planned for the next day. Augustus Sol Invictus took part in that march.
The charge that later followed was about that night and that torch. It was not about the car attack the following afternoon, which killed Heather Heyer. It was not about the Virginia State Police helicopter crash later that day. Those tragedies are separate facts, and the press often collapses them into one story. They should not be collapsed when describing this case.
This case is about the suppression — the annihilation — of right-wing dissent by a leftist power center in Charlottesville. It is not a personal grievance narrative. It is a public record of how one political demonstration was singled out, years later, for felony prosecution.
The charge and the trial
In April 2023 — nearly six years after the march — an Albemarle County grand jury indicted Augustus Sol Invictus on one felony count: burning an object with the intent to intimidate, under Virginia Code § 18.2-423.01. The indictment was tied to the August 11, 2017 torch march at UVA.
A jury trial was held in Albemarle County Circuit Court in October 2024. On October 11, 2024, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Judge Richard E. Moore later imposed sentence: five years’ imprisonment, with all but nine months and two weeks suspended, then two years of supervised probation. The sentencing order was entered March 3, 2025. Execution of the sentence has been stayed pending appeal.
Invictus was not charged with assault, battery, or any offense arising from the August 12 deaths. The conviction concerns the torch march of August 11.
The appeal
The case is on appeal in the Court of Appeals of Virginia, Record No. 0096-26-2.
Arguments raised in the appeal record and in a publicly filed amicus brief include, among others:
- First Amendment An amicus brief filed June 9, 2026 by the Free Expression Foundation argues that the conviction under § 18.2-423.01 cannot be squared with settled First Amendment doctrine, including the Supreme Court’s analysis in Virginia v. Black (2003), and that peacefully carrying a lit torch at a political demonstration is protected expression when no true threat is proved.
- Delay Indictment came roughly sixty-eight months after the march — a multi-year gap noted in the FEF brief and in public reporting as context for this prosecution.
- Successive prosecution Public reporting and the FEF brief describe that an earlier commonwealth’s attorney declined to charge torch-marchers under this statute absent other crimes, and that charges followed a later change in that office — attributed public-record context supporting the thesis of political prosecution, not an attack on any named person.
Read the FEF’s article and amicus brief →
Readers are asked to wait for the appellate court — not for headlines — to decide the law.
“Burning a cross at a political rally would almost certainly be protected expression.”Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343 (2003) — discussed in FEF amicus
Support the appeal
Help fund the defense of this case in the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Support the appealWhat the press gets wrong
The conviction in this case is for the August 11 UVA torch march — not for the August 12 car attack or for anyone’s death that day.
The trial concerned a single count of burning an object with intent to intimidate — not homicide, and not the helicopter crash.
Compressing a multi-day sequence into “convicted for Charlottesville” invites readers to assume the wrong thing. The verdict speaks to August 11.
Augustus Sol Invictus is a traditionalist Catholic (reverted 2020). He writes. This is his personal site.
Augustus Sol Invictus
Augustus Sol Invictus studied philosophy at the University of South Florida. He writes, and he is a traditionalist Catholic.
He was a headline speaker scheduled for the August 12, 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. This case — described above — arises from the torch march the night before. That conviction is on appeal.
Contact & Press
Contact: InvictusPA@protonmail.com
For interviews, book rights, or corrections, write with “Press” in the subject line. Include your outlet, deadline, and the claim you wish to verify. Factual inquiries answered as time allows.
The Confessions
The Confessions: Being the Testament of Augustus Sol Invictus Concerning His Conversion to the Catholic Faith (2025) is his account of return to the Catholic Church. Proceeds are donated to the Church.
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