Augustus Invictus accuses Libertarian Party chairman, vows challenge

Former Libertarian Party U.S. Senate candidate Augustus Sol Invictus is accusing his national party chairman of collaborating with communists and vowing to challenge him at the party’s national conference in Pennsylvania in April.

Invictus, an Orlando lawyer, was a candidate who made the party nervous from his announced candidacy until he was defeated in a primary in August. A self-avowed nationalist, he’s openly admitted to pagan rituals such as drinking goats blood, to multiple LSD uses, and to homicidal fantasies, and has advocated ideas that many critics characterized as neo-Nazi and anarchist.

But he’s not going away.

In an open letter he sent to Nicholas J. Sarwark, national chair of the Libertarian Party and posted on his website on Wednesday, Invictus claims that Sarwick had made supportive comments toward anti-fascist groups that Invictus contends are actually communist groups.

Several times in the letter Invictus said he would challenge Sarwark in some unspecified way and made references to the “upcoming fight.” He ended the letter by declaring, “I will see you at the Pennsylvania Convention next month.”

In a text to FloridaPolitics.com, Invictus elaborated, writing, “He has allied the Libertarian Party with the communists by defending the Antifa, and in doing so he has betrayed the party.”

Libertarian Party officials declined to comment about Invictus or his letter. His primary opponent, the Libertarian Party’s U.S. Senate nominee  Paul Stanton in November, said Invictus should not be taken seriously, adding, “Mr. Invictus’ brand of neo-fascism does not represent Libertarian values.”

The issue appears to arise from altercations Invictus himself had with such groups a year ago. In March, 2016, he spoke at private meetings in bars in Oregon and Washington, and members of local anti-fascist groups – which Invictus referred to as “Antifa,” a common generalization for them – confronted the attendees, leading to violence outside the bars.

“You personally crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed. You have taken sides with the communists, and in doing so you have betrayed the Libertarian Party and the movement generally. Until this point I was happy to work independently within the movement, far away from your domain; now I am compelled to action against the established order,” Invictus wrote.

“Today I open hostilities against the leadership of the National Libertarian Party,” Invictus wrote.

“Recently you made the remark that it was ‘understandable’ that the Antifa, a violent gang of communists, would initiate violent protests to shut down a speech,” he added.

Invictus apparently was referring to Sarwark’s Feb. 5 speech in California in which he expressed sympathy and understanding for the violent protesters at the University of California at Berkeley.

He refers to the March attacks against his speeches as “an assassination attempt” on him, and expresses outrage that the party did nothing to respond.

Invictus has personal reasons to oppose Sarwark and the Libertarian Party leadership, who sought to stop his 2016 candidacy and quietly backed Stanton of Deland, who defeated Invictus in the primary. Invictus raises those matters in his letter, but tries to dismiss them as not relevant to the point he now is trying to make.

“I do not question your commitment to libertarian principles, as you have questioned mine,” Invictus wrote. “What I call into question is your leadership of the Party. Despite what is about to unfold, I do have great respect for you.”

Invictus posted the letter on the website of a new organization he has formed, called “The Revolutionary Conservative,” which links to “allies” that include nationalist and anarchist groups.

Invictus contends in the letter that he has a following, supporting him for some sort of revolution within the Libertarian Party.

“Many people have, in the past two years, professed their hope that I would lead a reform of the libertarian movement,” he wrote.