Tag: Deandre Harris

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Malicious wounding charge against ‘Boonie Hat’ goes to grand jury

Tyler Watkins Davis. Courtesy Charlottesville Police Department

A Florida man charged with malicious wounding in the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage attack on DeAndre Harris can thank the attorney of another man for his arrest—and for dubbing him “Boonie Hat.”

Tyler Watkins Davis, 50, of Middleburg, Florida, was in Charlottesville General District Court April 12 for a preliminary hearing, and his attorney argued Davis had been “overcharged” and that the single blow he struck against Harris did not rise to the level of malicious wounding. However, Judge Bob Downer found enough evidence to certify the felony charge to the grand jury.

The moniker “Boonie Hat” debuted in that same court December 14, when Blairs attorney Elmer Woodard, who represents Jacob Goodwin, who’s also charged in the garage brawl, played video of the assault and asked why police had not arrested the then-unknown man wearing a brimmed hat who could be seen striking Harris.

Charlottesville police Detective Declan Hickey testified that he hadn’t noticed Boonie Hat until Woodard pointed him out in December, and he started looking for him. Davis was arrested January 24.

Davis, a member of the neo-Confederate group League of the South, came to Charlottesville to the Unite the Right rally to exercise his political opinions, said his attorney, Matthew Engle. “Opinions I find offensive,” added the attorney. “He had a right to do that.”

Engle portrayed Harris and Corey Long, known from video footage with his homemade flame thrower that he deployed at Emancipation Park, as much more violent and provocative than his client. He said that while Davis was peacefully protesting, Harris burned a Confederate flag earlier that day.

Engle played a video in which he said “two incredibly stupid things happened”: Long attempted to grab a flag belonging to Harold Crews, the head of the North Carolina League of the South, and Harris inserted himself into that. According to Engle, Harris pretty much provoked the vicious attack that left him with a broken wrist and stapled-together scalp. Harris was found not guilty of assaulting Crews March 16.

The attorney also said that “it was irresponsible” to send Unite the Right protesters out of the park and into the street with counterprotesters. Davis walked up Market Street as the two groups sparred. Once in the parking garage, when Harris stumbled in front of him and Davis hit him with what was variously described as a stick or club, “it was not self-defense” but it did lack malice, said Engle, who pointed that Davis only hit Harris once, unlike others involved in the attack.

“He was responding to a threat that he perceived,” said Engle.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina Antony disagreed. “Mr. Davis struck an individual who was unarmed and on the ground,” she said. “That in and of itself is malice.”

Before his ruling, Downer noted, “This court has viewed so many videos from so many angles,” and some shown April 12 had not been shown in other preliminary hearings. There was “horrible behavior” on the part of many people, he observed.

He said he didn’t think Davis was justified in striking Harris. “I think it was malicious,” and he said he found probable cause to certify the charge to the grand jury.

Downer allowed a bond hearing for Davis. Attorney Bernadette Donovan said her client was 50 years old with “absolutely no record.” Davis was raised in Lynchburg, where he met the woman to whom he’s been married 25 years, she said. Davis was a service technician for Comcast, had passed a background check for his job that had him going into people’s homes, and he was the family’s main breadwinner.

Holly Davis testified that her husband was funny and honest.

Over the prosecution’s objection, Downer agreed to a $5,000 bond on the condition that the commonwealth’s attorney could vet a home electronic monitoring system first. If approved, Davis could only leave his house for work, medical appointments for himself or his son, court or to meet with his attorneys.

“We requested he sign a waiver of extradition,” says Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania.

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Judge takes parking under advisement in August 12 case

Jacob Goodwin, one of four men charged in the beating of DeAndre Harris August 12, was found guilty of malicious wounding. Charlottesville police

An attorney for an Arkansas man who can be seen kicking DeAndre Harris in the face in videos of the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage brawl at the summer’s Unite the Right rally is now asking for a change of venue for his client’s upcoming trial.

Elmer Woodard—the lawyer from Blairs who represents Jacob Goodwin, as well as “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell and KKK leader Richard Preston—says Goodwin can’t get a fair trial in Charlottesville.

For one, because jurors are likely to park in the closest garage, which also happens to be the scene of the crime.

And if a judge bars them from parking there, their second choice could lead them to Charlottesville Circuit Court up Heather Heyer Way—the street recently renamed in honor of the 32-year-old woman who was killed on the day of Goodwin’s alleged offense.

“I think that’s a huge problem in seating a jury,” Woodard told the judge. Jurors are not legally allowed to visit a crime scene outside of the court’s control, he added.

But a parking problem isn’t the only reason he said his client can’t be tried here.

Woodard noted that media coverage of Goodwin often mentions Heyer’s death, “inflating” that the man who came to court in a gray and white-striped jail jumpsuit, with a brown beard and long, braided ponytail, was involved. Charlottesville residents aren’t able to be impartial about whether he should be found guilty of malicious wounding, said the attorney.

There’s also the potential for “sleeper activists,” he said—a phrase that Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler’s attorney, Mike Hallahan, said in a motion to change the venue of Kessler’s perjury trial. These people, the lawyers say, would intentionally try to be seated on the jury to convict unfavorable defendants.

Woodard said he no longer pays attention to what’s reported in local media about his clients.

“I had to stop reading [it] because my eyes crossed,” he said.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony agreed with Woodard that jurors parking in the garage on Market Street could be problematic, but said the defense’s argument that seating a jury would be difficult is irrelevant.

“It’s not whether seating the jury will be difficult, it’s whether the court can seat an impartial jury,” she said. During the voir dire portion of the trial, Woodard will have the opportunity to examine and interview potential jurors, and motion to strike individuals he deems unfit from the jury pool.

Judge Rick Moore agreed that he could seat an impartial jury, but took the motion under advisement to consider the parking dilemma. He also denied a defense motion to exclude evidence.

The evidence in question was a surveillance video of the attack, which plays at 15 frames per second, while all other known videos that will be admitted during the trial are 30 frames per second.

Woodard opened his argument on that motion in an unusual way. In his initial statement, he only actually voiced every other word to the judge, or half the sentence.

He said a video that plays at 15 frames per second shows only half of what happened and would be misleading to a jury, as it was misleading to the judge when he spoke every other word of a sentence.

“You didn’t mislead me,” said Moore. “I just didn’t know what you were saying.”

Goodwin’s two-day jury trial is scheduled to begin April 30.

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Not guilty: DeAndre Harris acquitted of August 12 assault

Dozens of community activists showed up in support for DeAndre Harris outside Charlottesville General District Court on March 15, the day before his trial, in which he was found not guilty of assaulting a white supremacist with a Maglite on August 12. Photo by Eze Amos

As DeAndre Harris’ attorney played video footage of a group of white supremacists beating him to the ground in the Market Street Parking Garage on August 12, Harris sank back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Today, he was on trial in Charlottesville General District Court for an encounter that happened just moments before the bloody beatdown, when he was walking down Market Street and testified that “everybody just stopped.”

Harris said he turned around to monitor the situation, and that’s when he says he witnessed League of the South member Harold Crews “driving his flag into Corey [Long].”

Long—who is now widely recognized as the tall, muscular black man who appears to be wielding a homemade flamethrower at a white supremacist in an August 12 photo that went viral—is one of a few people Harris attended the Unite the Right rally with. Harris said he had seen people using flagpoles as weapons throughout the day.

So when he saw the tip of one poking into his friend’s torso, that’s when he took a Maglite out of his backpack and swung it in the direction of the flagpole. His attorney, Rhonda Qualiana, said you could hear the flashlight hit the pole in the video.

Harris came to the rally carrying a bag full of water and a white towel to cover his face in the event that tear gas was dispersed, he testified. An unknown white man dressed in all black had handed him the Maglite and a face mask for protection just prior to the incident.

After he swung it, Crews—the North Carolina man who brought the assault charge against Harris—claimed he was struck on the left cheek, which left two abrasions.

While Judge Robert Downer said he believed Crews’ testimony, he said, “I cannot find beyond a reasonable doubt that [Harris] intended to hit Mr. Crews.”

And though the judge formerly instructed several rows of activists in the courtroom that outbursts were prohibited, they erupted in applause and whistles when he found Harris not guilty of the misdemeanor.

As part of a campaign community activists are calling “Drop the Charges,” members of groups such as Black Lives Matter, Congregate Charlottesville, Showing up for Racial Justice and Solidarity Cville have demanded that Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania acquit Harris, Long and another black man, Donald Blakney, from the charges they’ve faced as a result of protecting the community from neo-Nazis on August 12.

Outside the courtroom after the verdict—where, not long before, Unite the Right rally organizer Jason Kessler made his rounds through the screaming crowd, exchanging middle fingers with activists and filming a police officer who smacked his arm and caused him to drop and allegedly break his phone—activists chanted, “Being black is not a crime,” after the verdict.

Among a sea of signs in support of Harris, the 20-year-old who was working as a lead counselor at the local YMCA and a teacher’s aide at Venable Elementary School, one stood out: “Venable families stand with Dr. Dre.”

Quagliana said Harris would not be speaking to the media or the activists.

“Your enthusiasm and support has meant everything to DeAndre,” she said to the crowd of approximately 75 people. “It’s almost hard for me to not be emotional.”

The attorney said the day was also very emotional for her client, who has been searching for the woman who initially gave him aid on the steps of the NBC29 building where he lay after he was removed from the parking garage on August 12. Quagliana said he wants to thank her.

“DeAndre and his parents want peace in this community,” she added.

Black Lives Matter-Charlottesville organizer Lisa Woolfork said the acquittal of a victim whom white supremacists tried to turn into an assailant was a cause for celebration.

“Our community is much safer because of this verdict,” she said.

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Goodwin motions denied in DeAndre Harris attacks

Jacob Goodwin, one of four men charged in the beating of DeAndre Harris August 12, was found guilty of malicious wounding. Charlottesville police

An Arkansas man whose own attorney admits he kicked DeAndre Harris in the Market Street Garage August 12 filed two motions to exclude evidence of the brutal beating because he claimed the serious injuries to Harris happened before the kicks.

Jacob Goodwin, 23, of Ward, Arkansas, was arrested in November and charged with malicious wounding, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison and a minimum five-year sentence.

His attorney from Blairs, Elmer Woodard, spent most of the March 7 hearing showing video to Judge Rick Moore to establish that assailants such as Tyler Davis, the 49-year-old Florida man arrested January 24, and others identified as “Salmon Shirt” and “White Helmet” were the ones who seriously injured Harris, and that Harris’ broken wrist and head gash that required staples happened before Goodwin came on the scene to deliver a few kicks to his stomach and legs.

Harris “attacked Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Goodwin defended himself,” said Woodard. He contended that a list of Harris’ injuries was “unbiased testimony from medical specialists,” and did not include any bruises on his stomach. “That’s not malicious wounding,” he said. “This shouldn’t come into evidence against him because it happened before he came in.”

Moore denied Woodard’s motion to exclude that evidence and said it would be up to a jury to determine whether Goodwin caused Harris’ injuries. “This is a melee. He’s clearly kicked by your client multiple times,”  said Moore. “I can’t find this evidence irrelevant.”

Prosecutor Nina Antony said the commonwealth is proceeding on a theory that the assault was “concert of action by a mob” that Goodwin was part of, even if Harris’ injuries were caused by others.

“You can’t say it’s concert of action” when it’s people defending themselves,” argued Woodard.

Moore denied Woodard’s motions “based on the videos I’ve seen,” he said. Goodwin is scheduled for a jury trial April 30.

Woodard is also defending other white supremacists arrested in August 12 weekend events, including Baltimore Confederate White Knights of the KKK imperial wizard Richard Preston, charged with firing a gun after an unlawful assembly was declared in Emancipation Park, and “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell.

Woodard also represents Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler in his March 6 civil suit against the city for denying his August 12 anniversary permit.

 

 

 

 

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August 12 shooter and Market Street Garage attackers go to grand jury

Imperial wizard Billy Snuffer came to court to support fellow Klansman Richard Preston, accused of firing a gun at Emancipation Park August 12. Daryl Davis has made it a mission to meet KKKers to find out why they hate him for the color of his skin. Eze Amos

Three out-of-towners who were charged following the August 12 Unite the Right rally were in court December 14 for preliminary hearings, where a judge determined there was probable cause to seek grand jury indictments.

Baltimore resident and Confederate White Knights of the KKK imperial wizard Richard Preston, 52, is charged with shooting a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school. Alex Michael Ramos, 34, from Jackson, Georgia, is charged with felonious assault, and Jacob Scott Goodwin, 23, from Ward, Arkansas, is charged with malicious wounding, both in the Market Street Garage beating of Deandre Harris.

The three men were in court the same day as the hearing for James Fields, the man accused of killing Heather Heyer when he drove into a crowd. The judge ordered increased security in the courtroom, and he warned that anyone making noise would be removed.

Fellow KKKers, including Billy Snuffer, imperial wizard of the Rebel Brigade Knights of the True Invisible Empire, showed up in support of Preston.

Preston’s attorney, Elmer Woodard, also represents Goodwin and “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell. The Danville attorney, known for his showmanship in his appearances here, was corrected twice on the pronunciation of the name of Commonwealth’s Attorney-elect Joe Platania.

Platania called one witness, attorney and former mayor Frank Buck, who was near the corner of Market and Second streets when the rally was declared an unlawful assembly and whites-righters streamed out of Emancipation Park.

Buck testified he saw Preston point his gun at Corey Long, who made a flamethrower from an aerosol can. “I heard the gun discharge,” he said, and he saw a puff in the mulch near Long’s feet.

ACLU video

He followed Preston at a distance, and then filed a complaint with a magistrate. “He fired a handgun in the midst of people,” said Buck. “That struck me as an unlawful discharge.”

Woodard, who brought an aerosol can that he shook in court, asked Buck why he didn’t file a complaint against Long.

At that point, Judge Bob Downer interrupted the attorney. “All we’re here for today is to determine whether a firearm was unlawfully fired within 1,000 feet of a school. You seem to quibble about the distance of the flamethrower.”

Widely circulated video shows Preston firing a Ruger SR9 in the direction of Long, who was subpoenaed by Woodard but did not appear in court.

Woodard produced four witnesses who testified Preston saved them from the flamethrower. “There was nowhere to go and I was getting ready to be burned alive,” said Glasgow resident Scott Woods.

Another witness was testifying to the proficiency of Preston’s shooting when Downer interrupted again and reminded the lawyer that the preliminary hearing was only to determine probable cause that Preston fired his gun in the vicinity of Park School.

Despite Woodard’s argument that Preston’s firing was justifiable, that he kept people from being burned and was a “hero,” Downer certified the charge to the grand jury, which indicted him December 18.

Jacob Goodwin, Alex Michael Ramos and Richard Preston were in court December 14 for August 12-related charges. Charlottesville police

Detective Declan Hickey described on the stand his investigation into the beating of Harris, and the identification of some of the men who allegedly took part in that, including Goodwin and Ramos.

Goodwin was arrested October 11, and Hickey pointed him out in a video wearing all black and carrying a shield. Goodwin’s attorney painted a picture of self-defense and said Harris “ran at this man. He had to defend himself.”

Woodard asked the detective why he didn’t arrest another man in the video, who was wearing a brimmed hat and whom Woodard dubbed “Boonie Hat.”

“What’s appalling,” he said, “is that the commonwealth didn’t know Boonie Hat existed.”

He had Goodwin stand up, and the lawyer kneed him in the buttocks, apparently to demonstrate the extent of Goodwin’s involvement, contending, “That’s not malicious wounding.”

Ramos’ attorney, Jake Joyce, argued his client’s involvement in the beating did not rise to malicious wounding. “It might be assault and battery,” he said.

Downer did not buy those arguments, and said under the standard of probable cause, there was enough evidence to certify the charges to the grand jury, which met December 18 and handed down indictments for the two men. As for Boonie Hat, the judge said he hoped police find him.

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In brief: No permits, no DP editor, no daycare license and more

Jason Kessler's permit for the anniversary Unite the Right rally was denied. Photo by Eze Amos

Permission denied

Minutes before a decision was due, City Manager Maurice Jones denied several special event permits for rallies and counterrallies proposed on the weekend of August 12 in Emancipation, Justice and McGuffey parks—ground zero for the summer’s Unite the Right rally that left three people dead and countless wounded.

The first application was filed by local right-winger Jason Kessler for a “Back to Charlottesville” rally on the one-year anniversary of Unite the Right. He touted the event as a protest “against government civil rights abuse and failure to follow security plans for political dissidents,” in his application filed November 27.

In the city manager’s denial of Kessler’s application, he wrote, “The applicant requests that police keep ‘opposing sides’ separate and that police ‘leave’ a ‘clear path into [the] event without threat of violence,’ but [the] city does not have the ability to determine or sort individuals according to what ‘side’ they are on and…[can’t] guarantee that event participants will be free of any ‘threat to violence.’”

Another denied permit was filed by Brian Lambert, an acquaintance of Kessler’s, who hoped to host “Donald Trump Appreciation Weekend” in neighboring parks during the Back to Charlottesville rally.

Curry School professor and activist Walt Heinecke, City Councilor Bob Fenwick and photographer M.A. Shurtleff also requested to hold counter events in the parks over the same weekend, and their permits were denied because they present a danger to public safety, don’t align with the parks’ time constraints and the applicants did not specify how they would take responsibility for their rally attendees, according to Jones.

At the bottom of each denial, Jones wrote that applicants should be advised that future permits will be reviewed under the city’s standard operating procedures for demonstrations and special events in effect when the applications are received. The city manager is expected to go before City Council on December 18 with proposed updates, which include prohibiting certain items from rallies.

In Kessler’s blog post where he announced his plans for a Unite the Right redo, he said he had an arsenal of lawyers prepared to fight back if city officials didn’t grant his application—and he fully expected them not to.

“The initial permit decision is bogus,” Kessler writes on Twitter. “The rationale they give for denying it almost makes it seem like they want me to win. See you guys in court!”

“The proposed demonstration or special event will present a danger to public safety.” Maurice Jones in his denial of 13 permits for proposed August 12 events

Another editor leaves the Progress

Wes Hester, who took the helm of the Daily Progress in July 2016, is ending his little-more-than-a-year tenure. He followed former Houston Chronicle sports editor Nick Mathews, who stayed 14 months. Also departing are four other staffers, including reporters Michael Bragg and Dean Seal.

Daycare bust

photo Albemarle County police

Kathy Yowell Rohm, 53, was arrested December 6 after 16 babies and small children were found in her unlicensed Forest Lakes home. Rohm was charged with felony cruelty, and already faced charges stemming from a separate November 24 incident at the UVA-Virginia Tech football game that includes a felony assault charge for allegedly biting an EMT and public intoxication.

 

 

 

Animal abuser pleads guilty

Orange Sheriff’s Office

Anne Shumate Williams, convicted in November of 22 counts of animal cruelty for the neglect of horses, cats and dogs at her Orange County nonprofit horse rescue called Peaceable Farm,  pleaded guilty December 7 to a related embezzlement charge for using nearly $128,000 in donations for horse breeding. A five-year sentence was suspended on the condition Williams serves 18 months for the cruelty charges.

 

 

Harris could face misdemeanor

The man who was brutally beaten August 12 and was accused of felony malicious wounding could see his charge reduced to a misdemeanor, according to the Daily Progress. Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman filed a motion to amend Deandre Harris’ charge to misdemeanor assault.

Clifton Inn sold

The historic luxury inn has been acquired by D.C.-based Westmount Capital Group LLC and Richmond-based EKG LLC, led by the McGeorge family. The inn was previously owned by Mitch and Emily Willey, who restored it after a 2003 fire took two lives.

Attempted abduction arrest

City police arrested Matthew Kyle Logarides, 29, on abduction and sexual battery charges for an October 27 attempted grab at 1115 Wertland St. The victim said she was walking alone around 2am when he approached her from behind, covered her mouth and took her to the ground. Logarides, unknown to her, fled the scene when witnesses heard her scream.

Man with a Christmas plan

Restaurateur Will Richey was spotted adding some Christmas decorations to light poles last week. Staff photo

Will Richey, owner of Revolutionary Soup, The Whiskey Jar and other downtown eateries, is really into the holiday spirit. And he’d like the Downtown Mall to look a bit more festive.

“The entire downtown business group and all the merchants are in shock at the lack of decorations and the half-hearted effort,” he says.

He points to the garlands with lights that don’t work wrapped around light poles, the red-ribbonless wreaths and the “lovely tree” beside the fountain with orange construction barricades in front. “The city requires us to put up black metal [fencing],” he says. “Why don’t they? It looks like garbage.”

Those barricades are not adding to the holiday spirit. Staff photo

Richey—with the help of the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville and city staff—is taking matters into his own hands and plans a future winter wonderland, with the block in front of Splendora’s as a model for decking the mall for the holidays.

He was up on a ladder last week installing colored lights on the nonfunctioning garlands. “The city has not officially endorsed this,” he admits, but he sees it as “fulfilling what they originally intended.”

Says Richey, “We’ve had a hard summer, we’ve had a hard year.” He believes if Charlottesville went all out, it could be a holiday tourist destination. And he’ll be “working even harder to get something beautiful up next year.”

 

Correction: Wes Hester’s name was botched in the original version.

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Bond denied: Third time is not the charm

This poster was released August 24.

Judge Rick Moore slightly shook his head as he watched a video that showed Alex Michael Ramos assaulting Deandre Harris in the Market Street Garage August 12—and then he denied an appeal to release Ramos on bond, despite an associate of Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler offering to house the Georgia man.

It was Ramos’ third unsuccessful attempt at securing bond since he turned himself in August 28 in Forsyth, Georgia, on a felonious assault charge, and the Charlottesville Circuit Court judge cited the violence of the attack and Ramos’ lack of ties to the area.

“I’ve been in this job a long time,” said Moore. The video “is one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen.”

Attorney John Joyce sought to assuage the court’s concerns about lack of local ties with a plan to house Ramos with a new friend in Fluvanna he met through Kessler. Ramos testified that he’d known the woman a few weeks and had spoken to her a number of times on the phone.

The woman testified that she’d called people in Georgia who knew Ramos before considering letting a total stranger live in her house with her husband and kids, and was reassured that “he has no criminal record,” she said.

She also told the judge she’d seen the video from multiple directions and was not concerned about the alleged assault.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina Antony described the August 12 scene in which Harris was on the ground “in the fetal position” being beaten by four men when Ramos, who was not part of that group, sprinted into the garage, jumped over people who were watching the attack to possibly kick and then hit Harris.

She also showed Moore a Facebook post Ramos made after August 12. “He’s bragging about it,” she said.

Joyce acknowledged that his client struck one punch “in an insanely heated situation,” but stressed that Ramos had no criminal history and now has a place to live with a “sympathetic family.”

“He didn’t have a record and it didn’t keep him from doing what he did on the video,” said Moore. “It’s quite alarming.”

Calling the assault “gruesome,” Moore said, “You can’t manufacture local ties to the community by saying, ‘Stay at my house.’”

Moore said Ramos was an unreasonable risk to others and there was an unreasonable risk that he’d appear in court.

“I’ve not seen any remorse at all,” said the judge, who quoted Ramos’ post August 12 Facebook post: “We stomped ass. It was fucking fun. VICTORY!!!”

“He’s really not regretful,” observed Moore in denying the appeal. Ramos’ next court appearance is December 14.

 

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KKK support group: Gun-firer and alleged Harris attackers remain in jail

KKK imperial wizard Richard Wilson Preston is charged with firing a gun August 12. ACLU video

A judge was unswayed hearing testimony from a man who first said he was threatened by the thrower of a C-VILLE Weekly box at the August 12 Unite the Right rally and who then fired his pistol to defend a man who was the target of a homemade flamethrower.

Richard Preston photo Charlottesville police

Baltimore resident Richard Wilson Preston Jr., 52, imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the KKK, appeared in Charlottesville General District Court October 12 seeking bond. He was arrested August 26 for discharging a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school after video circulated of him firing the gun at the rally.

Preston was represented by Elmer Woodard, who is also the attorney for other white nationalists arrested in conjunction with the August 12 weekend and were in court October 13—Identity Evropa’s Nathan Damigo, Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute cohort Evan McLaren and JonPaul Struys—as well as Chris Cantwell, aka the “Crying Nazi.”

Originally scheduled for a preliminary hearing, Preston first asked that it be continued, and then changed his mind the Saturday before, according to Woodard. The prosecution objected because Preston’s change of heart came about October 7 on a holiday weekend.

“You can’t have it both ways if you ask for a continuance,” said Judge Bob Downer, who rejected going forward with the preliminary hearing.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania also said he was not prepared for a bond hearing, but Downer agreed to hear testimony at the end of the day from the half dozen Preston Klan supporters who came to vouch that he’d show up in court if released.

Wearing a striped jail jumpsuit and ponytail, Preston told the judge that initially he’d been threatened with a C-VILLE Weekly box and pulled his pistol in that encounter, but the box was tossed in a different direction. Beside him, a man clad in black wearing shorts and a mask had what Preston described as a nail-spiked stick. “He said he was going to kill me,” said Preston. “I pulled my pistol back up and said if he tried that, I’d fucking shoot him.”

Attorney Elmer Woodard had white nationalist clients in court October 12 and 13. Photo Natalie Jacobsen

Preston’s gun is registered in Baltimore. “There’s no restriction on marching around this beautiful city with a firearm,” said Woodard.

Scott “Woodsy” Woods from Glasgow, Virginia, testified he’d been hit with pepper spray August 12 when a second threat emerged. “I’m right here getting attacked by this guy with a flamethrower,” he said. “I saw this guy flick this thing three times. Then he sprayed it in my face. I felt the heat.”

Said Woods, “Someone fired a shot.” And that’s when the threat stopped, he said.

Culpeper resident Corey Long, 23, identified as the man in the iconic flamethrower photo, turned himself in October 13 and was charged with disorderly conduct and in another August 12 incident, assault. He was released on an unsecured bond.

Woods said he’d been Facebook friends with Preston for about five years, and has met him “two or three times,” the last occasion at a June cookout in Martinsville.

Billy Wayne Snuffer Sr., the imperial wizard of the Rebel Brigade Knights of the True Invisible Empire, which had a gathering in Martinsville in June, came from Buchanan and testified he was prepared to put up $2,500—10 percent of a $25,000 bond, the amount Woodard suggested.

According to Vice, Snuffer was connected to another KKKer—Chris Barker, who organized the July 8 rally in Charlottesville. Snuffer expelled Barker in 2015 for defacing a synagogue in Danville.

Woodard said if released, Preston had friends who would house him in Virginia. “They’ll drag him up here,” he assured the judge. And while Preston didn’t object to electronic monitoring, because his friends live in rural areas, it might not work, said his lawyer.

Downer said it was not the flight risk that worried him. “I do think he’s a danger to others,” he said. That Preston would fire a gun in a crowd of people there to exercise their First Amendment rights, Downer said, was “totally and completely reckless.”

Two other men arrested for felonious assault for the beating of Deandre Harris in the Market Street Garage August 12 also had hearings.

Daniel Borden Photo Charlottesville police

Daniel Borden, the 18-year-old from Mason, Ohio, looked surprised on the video feed from Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail when he learned that his lawyer, Mike Hallahan, was not able to be in court that day and his hearing would be continued to December 14. Borden shook his head.

And Alex Michael Ramos, 33, from Jackson, Georgia, who was denied bond September 25, again was rebuffed because of his lack of ties in this area and the “very violent encounter” with Harris, said prosecutor Nina Antony.

Ramos, she said, was not part of the original gang beating Harris, but came from across the street to join in and punch Harris, who was on the ground.

Once again, Downer expressed his concerns about “someone who strikes someone, who kicks someone when they’re down.”

Alex Ramos from wanted poster

And Ramos’ non-resident status was another factor. “I’ve had oodles of experience with out-of-state defendants voluntarily coming back,” said Downer, in denying bond.

Ramos, too, will be back in court December 14.

Earlier that day, Harris, 20, turned himself in on a charge of unlawful wounding after League of the South member Harold Ray Crews alleged Harris assaulted him. Harris was released on an unsecured bond.

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In brief: More white nationalists, more arrests and a drought warning

About 40-50 white nationalists attended the October 7 tiki torch flash mob, most wearing khakis and white colored shirts. Photo by Jalane Schmidt

 

They said they’d be back

UVA alumni/white nationalist Richard Spencer, who was maced by police the last time he was here August 12, showed up at Emancipation Park under cover of dark October 7 for a tiki-torch flash mob that police say started around 7:40pm, lasted approximately five to 10 minutes and consisted of about 40 to 50
people—most wearing what’s become the uniform of neo-Nazis, khakis and white collared shirts.

Witnesses identified his alt-right buddies Mike Enoch and Eli Mosley among the mix, but homegrown whites-righter and Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, whose August event drew white supremacists from 35 states, according to the Anti-Defamation League, was nowhere to be found.

Counterprotest photo by Eze Amos

Activist Jalane Schmidt, who saw the flames as she was walking home from work, says the “goons” put out their torches and hopped into vans. Police say they followed them to make sure they left the city.

Then came the response. Dozens of UVA students, faculty and community members marched from Emancipation Park to Carr’s Hill, President Teresa Sullivan’s residence, to protest the return of the extreme right-wingers and ask the university’s leader to revoke Spencer’s diploma. Police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, and attendees dispersed without incident.

Quote of the Week:

“This is not business as usual or a classroom exercise where every threatening public utterance or assembly is met with ‘freedom of speech.’” —City Councilor Bob Fenwick, who calls the October 7 reappearance of white supremacists “a clear and present danger to the community.”

 

Buford lockdown

Days after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, terrified Buford Middle School seventh- and eighth-graders hid behind and under desks October 5 for part of the nearly hour-long incident, according to school officials. Police requested the lockdown because a person believed to be carrying a knife and involved in a rape was seen in the vicinity. Johnson Elementary also was on lockdown.

UVA protest. Photo: Rachel Coldren

Bicentennial arrests

UVA police arrested three student protesters for trespassing at the university’s bicentennial celebration October 6. As alumna Katie Couric was introducing the next act, they took the stage and unveiled a banner that read “200 years of white supremacy.” Hannah Russell-Hunter, Joshua Williams and Lossa Zenebe face Class 1 misdemeanors.

Spokeswoman departing

Miriam Dickler, city director of communications, will leave her nearly $91K a year job early in 2018 after five years. During the preparations for Unite the Right in August, Mayor Mike Signer accused her of bordering on “insubordination” for balking at working with a PR firm he wanted to hire. Dickler says she wants to “take some time and consider other opportunities and avenues.”

Arrests, white supremacy cont’d

Photo: © Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press

An iconic photo from the deadly August 12 rally shows Deandre Harris on the ground in the Market Street Parking Garage, surrounded by a group of white men kicking and beating him. Now, someone has alleged that Harris started the fight, and city police have issued a warrant for his arrest for unlawful wounding.

Robo World

Paul Perrone and Governor McAuliffe. Staff photo

Perrone Robotics will invest $3.8 million in driverless car research in Crozet, which will create 127 jobs. An elected official-studded announcement October 6 drew Governor Terry McAuliffe, Congressman Tom Garrett and Delegate Steve Landes, as well as a quorum of Albemarle supervisors.

 

Shallow waters

The last time Charlottesville saw a major drought was in 2002, when water was so scarce that restaurants started using paper plates and plastic utensils instead of washing dishes. We’re not there yet, but the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority bumped its drought watch to a drought warning October 5, when water storage at the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir hit 42 percent capacity—which was 100 percent August 3. That’s 370 million gallons, down from 880 million two months ago, and now the city has spoken: Conservation is no longer voluntary.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Don’t serve water at your restaurant unless asked
  • Don’t water your plants or grass
  • Don’t wash your car
  • Don’t fill your swimming pool
  • Don’t run your fountain
  • Don’t wash your street, driveway or parking lot
Click to enlarge.
Categories
News

Alleged Deandre Harris attacker denied bond

This poster was released August 24.

The Georgia man charged with kicking a counterprotester who was on the ground in the Market Street Parking Garage August 12 was denied bond this morning in Charlottesville General District Court.

Alex Michael Ramos, 33, appeared before Judge Bob Downer seeking bond for his release from Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. Ramos surrendered August 28 to the Monroe Sheriff’s Office in Forsyth, Georgia.

His attorney, John Joyce, stressed that Ramos had no criminal record “at all” and that he turned himself in.

Assistant Commonwealth’s attorney Nina Antony said that Ramos did not immediately turn himself in after the FBI released wanted posters August 24.

Ramos said he didn’t know about the arrest warrant until a friend called and told him about it August 28. “I’ll be honest, I had a hard time thinking about it,” he told the judge, but he did go to police several hours later.

Ramos was not part of the group of alt-right protesters that have been seen in video and photographs beating Deandre Harris, according to his attorney, and he was on the opposite side of the street when he came over to the garage. “I would note he did not have any weapon on him,” said Joyce.

He added, “It may have been Mr. Harris that struck the first blow.”

Antony noted Ramos had no ties to Virginia aside from one friend in Richmond, and the “level of violence” in arguing to keep him in jail. “Mr. Ramos came into a fight he had no part in,” she said. “He strikes someone who is on the ground.” Harris ended up with multiple injuries, including a broken wrist and eight staples in his head.

Judge Downer agreed when he denied bond. “Hitting a person when they’re down and running up like that is a vicious offense,” he said.

Ramos is scheduled to be in court again October 12.

Also in court this morning was Jacob Smith, the Louisa man accused of punching Hill reporter Taylor Lorenz in the face August 12 on Fourth Street after a car plowed into a group of counterprotesters and told her to stop recording. His case was continued to November 3.

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