Ku Klux Klan leader, Harry Rogers, 36, drove his truck into a crowd of peaceful protesters Sunday night north of downtown Richmond and is now facing charges of assault and battery, attempted malicious wounding, and felony vandalism. Investigators are also considering hate crime charges.
What We Know:
- Harry Rogers, 36, who is described as an “admitted leader of the Ku Klux Klan and propagandist for confederate ideology” by Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor, is being charged after driving his truck into a crowd of peaceful protesters.
- According to Taylor, Rogers drove down a median, drove up to protesters, revved his engine, and drove into the sea of protestors, injuring one person. Luckily, the injuries weren’t serious.
- The incident happened north of downtown Richmond, which has been known to have many protests and is where the Robert E. Lee statue, along with other confederate statues, are being removed in support of racial equality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
- An incident similar to this one happened in 2017 during the Charlottesville protests, where the driver, James Fields rammed his car into protesters, who were protesting a white nationalist rally, killing one woman and injuring 19 people. Fields was sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crime charges.
- Taylor states that the crime will not go unpunishable in a statement with NBC News.
- “Protesters acting peaceably, well within their constitutional rights of assembly should not have to fear violence,” Taylor said. “We lived through this in Charlottesville in 2017. I promise that this egregious criminal act will not go unpunished.”
- Rogers is being held at the Henrico County jail without bond and made his first court appearance Monday.
We will continue following this case since it’s still ongoing because we are awaiting Rogers’ sentencing but once that information is available and released to the public, we will update everything.
