Tag: rick moore

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Still guilty: Statue trespassers appeal their sentences, with mixed results

In March 2018, Brian Lambert (left) said he and Christopher Wayne (right) would take their punishment for trespassing and attempting to remove the tarps off the Lee and Jackson statues “like men.” Then they appealed, and all but one of their convictions were upheld. Photo by Eze Amos

The outspoken Confederates convicted for trying to remove the shrouds that once covered the Lee and Jackson statues downtown were back in court on appeal April 25–and one of them was back to his past courtroom antics.

Christopher Wayne, a 35-year-old from Monterey, was removed from the courtroom, handcuffed, and given an additional 10 days in jail for his bad behavior, which included hurling a pen across the room and screaming, “You can all go fuck yourselves.”

In March 2018, Wayne was found guilty of destruction of property and two counts of trespassing. Judge Joseph Serkes—whom Wayne repeatedly argued with—sentenced him to serve five months in jail, prompting the defendant to spew profanity outside the courtroom, and flash his middle finger at reporters.

During this go-round, in Charlottesville Circuit Court, Wayne continued to make offhanded comments to testifying witnesses, his own attorney, and prosecutor Nina Antony, who asked him to stop multiple times. Judge Rick Moore called it “entirely improper,” but refused to reprimand him in that moment.

“If he thinks he’s helping his case, I’m going to let him do it,” Moore said, noticeably annoyed.

Defense attorney Josh Wheeler, former director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, called two of Wayne’s friends—one who said he met the defendant through “heritage events” and the other through the Virginia Flaggers—to the stand to dispute evidence from another witness, Hank Morrison, who claimed he saw Wayne tampering with the tarp in Market Street Park on February 16.

Morrison recounted seeing Wayne standing inside the orange fencing the city had erected around the Lee statue. He also said it sounded like someone was yanking on the tarp that shrouded Lee as the city mourned the August 12, 2017, death of Heather Heyer.

Wayne and one other person, identified as William Shifflett, began walking away when they noticed Morrison take out his cell phone to call the police, Morrison said. An officer responded almost immediately and stopped Wayne and Shifflett near the park.

But both Shifflett and Wayne’s other friend, Barry Isenhour, who said he drove the men downtown that day for “supper” on the Downtown Mall, testified that they never saw Wayne tamper with the tarp covering the statue.

Wheeler argued that the testimony from Shifflett and Isenhour was as credible as Morrison’s, and the judge agreed.

Moore upheld Wayne’s guilty verdict for trespassing that day, but dismissed the charge for destruction of property, saying the prosecutor didn’t prove without a reasonable doubt that he also tampered with the tarp that night. Though “chances are, he did it,” Moore said.

He also found Wayne guilty of trespassing in Court Square Park on February 23. Detective Declan Hickey testified that he saw Wayne hiding in the park’s bushes after 11pm, when the park is officially closed, which is marked on signs at its entry points.

When Hickey approached Wayne, the officer testified the defendant claimed he didn’t know the park was closed because he can’t read. Added Hickey, “He called me a fat cunt [and] asked how many kids I’d had sex with,” and when he took him to jail, Hickey said Wayne told the magistrate he identified as an “African helicopter.”

This second guilty verdict apparently didn’t sit well with Wayne, who stood, called it “a farce of justice,” and said he was just trying to enjoy his Confederate statues.

“Your statues?” asked Moore of the Monterey man.

Wayne then asserted again that he couldn’t read the “no trespassing” signs.

“I don’t know [I’m trespassing] if I don’t know how to read,” Wayne said. And answered the judge, “I don’t think you know how to think. …Your attitude is horrible.”

Deputies stationed in the courtroom began inching toward the aggravated defendant, which is when he threw his pen and shouted an obscenity as he was being escorted out. Out of view, but within earshot, Wayne was charged with contempt of court. A short physical altercation could be heard as he was being handcuffed.

“Christopher!” exclaimed one of his supporters, who was also clearly frustrated.

“Bring him back in,” said the judge. Moore then added an additional 10 days for bad behavior onto Wayne’s 45-day jail sentence.

“If you want to keep adding to the sentence, I will let you do that,” the judge said, to which Wayne responded, “Great.”

Brian Lambert, who flashed a white power symbol at his last trial was also appealing his statue-related convictions, but, as the judge noted, behaved considerably better than Wayne this time around.

Moore found that Lambert, 50, was still guilty of the two trespassing and two destruction of property charges, but that the sentence Serkes initially imposed of eight months in jail was too harsh.

Even Antony, the prosecutor, said that punishment was “substantially more than what we would ever anticipate, and Moore sentenced Lambert to just 55 days.

The men didn’t have the right to interfere with the shrouds just because they didn’t like them, Moore reminded them. “We are a nation of laws,” he said.

Lambert said he was “embarrassed for the town,” after August 12, 2017, and the tarps “added insult to injury. …In my heart, I really honestly felt like I was doing the right thing.”

Quipped Wheeler, who also represented Lambert, “The road to hell is often paved with good intentions.”

Correction April 30: Josh Wheeler is the former director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, not its current director.

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Parental influence: Borden gets nearly four years for garage attack

Daniel Borden. Courtesy Charlottesville police

He wore a construction helmet that said “commie killer” as he joined in on a brutal beating in a downtown parking garage, striking the already downed DeAndre Harris with a stick until it broke as Harris struggled to pick himself up off the ground.

And though two out-of-town men already found guilty of malicious wounding for participating in the same beating have been sentenced to eight and six years in prison, this one—Daniel Borden, the Ohioan who was 18 years old when he hitched a ride to Charlottesville for the August 12 white supremacist rally—will only serve three years and 10 months.

“I absolutely don’t think my son did anything wrong,” testified his father, retired U.S. Air Force pilot Rick Borden, about the younger Borden’s involvement in what Judge Rick Moore has repeatedly referred to as “one of the worst beatings I’ve ever seen.”

The father, who started his testimony by saying he’d done “quite a bit of comprehensive investigation on this,” told the judge his son was separated from his friends when police declared an unlawful assembly and ordered everyone to leave what was then called Emancipation Park.

Borden joined another group of alt-righters and began making his way toward the Market Street Parking Garage. He picked up the stick along the way for protection, according to his dad.

“I’m not sure that I would have walked out of that park with anything other than an M1 Abrams tank,” said the father. He laughed at the mention of the “commie killer” hardhat, and said it was a reference to the film Full Metal Jacket.

“Back in the day, when I was a B-52 pilot, the Soviets were our mortal enemy,” he added.

A visibly frustrated defense attorney Mike Hallahan told the judge he was “on edge” as he questioned the elder Borden.

Judge Moore then called for a recess. As Borden’s father stood and left the witness stand for the break, he passed this reporter, who was seated in a back row. Making eye contact, he made an aggressive gesture somewhere in between starting a lawnmower and ripping apart a newspaper.

Returning to the stand, in an unusually tangential testimony, the father ranted about other aspects of August 12, including that Harris was allegedly seen throwing bottles of soda that day, and about how “antifa personnel” apparently specialize in “gang beatdowns.”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania noted that a lot of the testimony seemed irrelevant, but that he wasn’t objecting. “I think Mr. Borden has a lot he wants to get off his chest,” he said.

And Hallahan argued that everything is relevant.

“Everything is not relevant,” said Moore. “I’m not going to let this sentencing hearing be made about something else.”

Getting back on track, Borden’s father said his son had “tunnel vision” or “target fixation” during the attack. Said the elder Borden, “Dan has no recollection of anybody even around him. He was that full of fear and anxiety.”

But in a video taken after the parking garage beating, Platania said Borden appeared “gleeful,” and that he could be heard saying, “Fuck Antifa. Fuck communism. They got their ass kicked multiple times.”

Prosecutor Nina Antony noted that Borden was half a block away when he saw the beating and decided to join in.

Hallahan, who argued that Borden was drawn to the parking garage because one of the alt-righters was also being beaten in a separate fight, asked the judge to “take out all the drama” and “take out all the politics,” to see that this case is just about a “guy in the parking lot hitting somebody with a stick.”

And the defense attorney said that from the sounds of the video, Borden likely missed Harris with at least one of his swings.

“I don’t think that matters,” said the judge. “He kept swinging because he hadn’t done what he needed to do.”

The defendant’s mother, Kelly Borden, said she didn’t know her son had gone to Virginia for the Unite the Right rally until a friend sent her an article by civil rights activist and independent journalist Shaun King, which identified Borden as one of the men who assaulted Harris. She testified it was “fake news.”

Though Borden faced a max of 20 years in prison, the sentencing guidelines presented to the court that day suggested a year and six months on the low end and four years and two months on the high end.

His attorney recommended the lowest: “Get him out of this community. Charlottesville didn’t want him here in the first place,” Hallahan said.

Antony noted Borden’s young age, lack of criminal history, and voluntary guilty plea, but she still asked for at least the highest sentencing recommendation. She also said she was trying not to let Borden’s parents’ testimony sway her to ask for more time.

Moments before the judge pronounced the nearly four-year sentence, with 20 years of good behavior, and five years of supervised probation after release, Borden gave his own statement—one that seemed more remorseful than his parents’.

He said he cried in his dad’s kitchen when the photos of him on August 12 surfaced on the web. He had only come to town to protest the removal of the Confederate statues, he added.

“I did not know how overwhelmingly against the statues Charlottesville was,” he said. “If I did, I would have thought twice about coming.”

Though Harris wasn’t present in the courtroom, Borden had a message for him: “You didn’t deserve that.” He gave the prosecutor a personal letter that he wanted Harris to read.

He also apologized to Harris’ parents, his own parents, and the entire city.

Said Borden, “I’m truly sorry this has happened to your town.”

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Day 1: Seating a jury in the James Fields trial

Lawyers for James Alex Fields, 21, the Ohio man charged with the first-degree murder of Heather Heyer and accused of plowing his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of demonstrators on Fourth Street August 12, 2017, suggested he may argue self defense in early questioning of potential jurors.

Fields, a self-described neo-Nazi, is also charged with five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of leaving the scene. He appeared in court unshaved and wearing a dark suit and tie.

The case—and the swarms of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the streets of Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally—made national news. Fields’ attorney, former commonwealth’s attorney Denise Lunsford, earlier had requested a change of venue. Judge Rick Moore took the motion under advisement, but seemed confident he could find 12 impartial jurors and four alternates.

Questionnaires went out to 360 potential jurors, the largest pool ever in Charlottesville, and by 10am November 26, around 60 were sitting in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Jury selection got off to a slow start. Potential jurors were put in a group of 28 for the first round of questioning to determine juror bias. One was dismissed because she no longer lived in Charlottesville.

Nearly all of the 28 raised their hands when asked if they’d heard about the case through the media.

The prosecution said it planned to call 40 witnesses, including victims Marcus Martin and Marissa Blair, and former Daily Progress reporter Ryan Kelly, whose photo of the Fourth Street crash won a Pulitzer prize.

Lunsford listed around 15 possible witnesses, including Officer Tammy Shifflett, the school resource officer who left her position blocking Fourth Street at Market when she became fearful for her personal safety, and Fields’ mother, Samantha Bloom, who has called police in the past because she was frightened by her son’s behavior.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

 

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YouTuber wants access to car attack videos 

When James Fields allegedly drove his car into the crowd on Fourth Street, he also smashed into a Toyota Camry. Photo by Eze Amos

In an August 21 hearing in Charlottesville Circuit Court, Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania took an unusual seat—in the defendant’s chair—with his files resting on a table on the left side of the room, while another man took Platania’s usual seat on the right.

William Evans, a Fairfax attorney representing himself, is suing the commonwealth’s attorney for access to two videos of the August 12, 2017, car attack that the prosecution showed in an open courtroom at driver James Fields’ preliminary hearing in December, then submitted as evidence, and removed from the public file.

“It’s really one of the more unusual cases I’ve ever been involved in,” said Judge Rick Moore at the hearing. Evans had submitted approximately 20 relevant cases for the judge to read, and Moore said from the 10 he scoured in full, he was introduced to issues and points of law he was never aware of.

William Evans

Evans has argued that, even in a criminal trial, videos that have been shown to the public in a courtroom, with their contents reported on by multiple news outlets, should be available for anyone who wishes to see them. The two specific videos he’s after are Virginia State Police helicopter footage of Fields plowing his car into dozens of counterprotesters, and surveillance video of the incident from Red Pump Kitchen on Fourth Street.

Evans, who seems to have his own theory of what happened before and during that attack in Charlottesville (according to videos posted on his YouTube channel called SonofNewo), submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the city and to Platania to view the videos shown in court, and both were denied. He says the reports he’s read of the videos’ content are contradictory.

Moore told Evans that FOIA exemptions in criminal cases often exist for “public welfare and justice…not just because we don’t want you messing in our papers.”

Evans says all he’s asking to see are portions of videos already shown in an open court, which the prosecution relied on as evidence.

“That’s all you’re asking to see?” asked the judge. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to see,” said Evans, who also sued the city in a separate suit, over the same two videos.

The videos aren’t currently in the file for seemingly unknown reasons, though it was disclosed that assistant prosecutor Nina-Alice Antony remembers making a verbal motion to withdraw the videos at the end of the December preliminary hearing, which isn’t documented in the official court transcript.

In felony cases certified to the grand jury, Moore said all documents are sent to the clerk of the respective circuit court, unless there’s a decision to seal the record. But Evans says there is no record of an order to seal the evidence.

On why the commonwealth won’t just turn over the videos, Platania says, “When balancing public access to information with a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by an impartial jury, this office will always err on the side of non-disclosure unless otherwise directed by a court of competent jurisdiction.”

The judge granted Evans’ motion to intervene in the Fields’ trial and to argue for the public’s right to access those two videos.

As they ran out of time and Evans agreed to appear at the October docket call to set another date to continue, the judge pondered the importance of granting Evans and the rest of the community a chance to see the videos.

“What is the harm of the public not seeing a 13th version of this?” Moore said. “What is the public really going to care about this?”

Evans said he felt like the hearing went well.

He added, “Really, this is all kind of plowing new ground in terms of Virginia FOIA law.”

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‘Just evil:’ Men sentenced in August 12 parking garage beating

White nationalists chased DeAndre Harris into the Market Street Parking Garage and beat him with pieces of the wooden barricades they tore down. (Credit Image: © Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)

The two young men handed lengthy prison sentences last week for their involvement in the August 12, 2017, brutal parking garage beating of DeAndre Harris sat in stark contrast to one another in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

One’s remorse was hard to miss. Jacob Goodwin, the Arkansas man who can be seen in videos wearing full tactical gear and kicking Harris multiple times as he lay immobile in the Market Street Parking Garage, hung his head for most of his August 23 hearing.

Last summer, a group of white nationalists chased Harris into the parking garage, surrounding him and striking him with their homemade weapons, fists, and feet. They knocked him to the ground at least twice, and continued to beat him as he struggled to get up.

Jacob Goodwin

Goodwin had tears in his eyes as Judge Rick Moore handed down a 10-year sentence with two years suspended. He turned to look at his mother, who had collapsed into his father’s lap, and her muffled sobs could be heard throughout the courtroom.

The jury that found Goodwin guilty of malicious wounding in May recommended the 10-year sentence, but suggested that some time be suspended. Prosecutor Nina-Alice Antony, who asked the judge to suspend no more than two years, said the jury didn’t have the benefit of nearly 20 letters from friends and family that were sent on Goodwin’s behalf.

The contents of the letters were not discussed, but they apparently described a different man than the one seen in the August 12 videotapes—a white man with a shield and goggles, who also wore a pin that said “88,” code for “Heil Hitler,” as he beat a bloodied black man at the largest gathering of white supremacists in recent history.

“[This] is probably him on his worst day,” Antony said. “We are dealing with a snapshot of Mr. Goodwin’s life.”

Judge Moore said he hoped so, and called it one of the most “brutal, one-sided beatings” he’d ever seen. As for the good man Goodwin was shown to be in the letters Moore received, the judge said, “How does somebody who’s this person become the person I saw on the video?”

Before Goodwin was told he’d serve eight years, he told the court he didn’t get the chance to apologize during his trial.

“I’m truly, genuinely sorry,” he said. “I can’t even imagine the aftermath of what happened—how this has affected [Harris’] life.”

Antony said Harris declined to submit a victim impact statement.

“He has been working over the past several months on putting this matter behind him,” she said. Echoed the judge, “Mr. Harris may get over his physical injuries. I don’t know that he’ll ever get over his emotional or psychological injuries.”

Later that day, an apology that came from another man who participated in the beating wasn’t as sincere.

Alex Ramos’ face was blank as Moore grappled with how much prison time to impose.

Alex Ramos, pictured with his right fist raised, and Jacob Goodwin, pictured carrying a shield.

In viral videos, the man who came to the Unite the Right rally from Georgia can be seen wearing a red Make America Great Again hat and a white tank top as he throws one of the last punches in the Market Street Parking Garage melee.

The judge stressed that Ramos didn’t get involved until Harris was already on the ground, and the beating was almost over.

“It’s like he had to interject himself when the person was already beat to pieces,” Moore said. “It’s inhumane.”

Alex Ramos

He decided on a six-year sentence for Ramos, which the jury recommended when they also found him guilty of malicious wounding in May, and said it was easier to decide in this case than in Goodwin’s or that of Richard Preston, the KKK imperial wizard he sentenced two days prior to four years in prison for firing a gun within 1,000 feet of a school on August 12, 2017 (see article on p. 13).

When Ramos took the witness stand, his defense attorney, Jake Joyce, asked him about a couple of Facebook posts he made after the Unite the Right rally, in which Ramos claimed victory, and said of the beating: “We stomped ass. Getting some was fucking fun.”

“I feel pretty embarrassed about it,” Ramos told the judge.

His attorney also noted the “elephant in the room:” Ramos is Hispanic, and not a white nationalist. Ramos described himself as a “conservative” and said he’s always been “somewhat of an outcast” at right-wing events.

The judge said Ramos fought as if he was trying to prove himself or impress somebody.

As for ganging up on Harris in the parking lot, Ramos said, “I made a wrong judgment call…I feel pretty bad. I kinda wish I could apologize to Mr. Harris.”

When advocating for Ramos to serve the full six-year sentence, Antony said he “might still need some time to think.”

Seemingly changing his demeanor just moments before his official sentence was handed down, Ramos said, “I am really sorry.”

“You can spend the rest of your life thinking about that,” the judge said. “It’s just evil.”

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‘Commie killer’ Daniel Borden enters plea, is found guilty

Daniel Borden. Courtesy Charlottesville police

Another man charged with malicious wounding in the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage beatdown of DeAndre Harris has been convicted.

Daniel Borden, whose local TV station and newspaper have said he was known for his swastika drawings and Nazi salutes in high school, was 18 years old when he traveled from Maumee, Ohio, to Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally.

He entered an Alford plea in Charlottesville Circuit Court on May 21, which isn’t an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that there’s enough evidence to convict him. Judge Rick Moore did, indeed, find him guilty.

“His argument is he didn’t have malice in his heart or mind when he did this,” said defense attorney Mike Hallahan. The felony charge carries up to 20 years in prison.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony—who noted that Borden was wearing a white construction hat with “commie killer” written on it during the attack—said videos show the teenager beating Harris with a wooden object while Harris was already on the ground, which the judge agreed was enough evidence for the malicious wounding charge.

Hallahan previously argued that Borden wouldn’t be able to get a fair trial in Charlottesville, and said at a March 29 motions hearing that the city has shown an “absolute sheer bias” against rally participants by pursuing charges against them but not prosecuting people for jaywalking or blocking Fourth Street during the car attack in which a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of people, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others. Fourth Street was supposed to have been closed during the rally.

After two two-day trials for assailants in the same case, juries convicted Jacob Goodwin, from Arkansas, and Alex Ramos, from Georgia, and recommended a sentence of 10 years and six years, respectively. The judge will formally sentence both men in August.

Borden, who told the judge he’s currently working on getting his GED, is scheduled to be sentenced October 1, exactly one month from his twentieth birthday.

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In brief: Get off the tracks, a Klansman’s plea and and a misidentified racist

Photo: Skycladap.com

See tracks? Think train

That’s advice from Dave Dixon, the safety and compliance supervisor of the Buckingham Branch Railroad, who notes the national increase of railroad crossing fatalities this year.

One of them happened here. An Amtrak carrying GOP congressmen smashed into a garbage truck on Crozet
train tracks in January, killing 28-year-old truck passenger Christopher Foley.

In an increased effort to educate drivers, Dixon offers advice for what to do if your car gets stuck on the crossing:

1. Evacuate the car and get away from the tracks.

2. Call the number on the blue sign at the crossing, not 911.

3. If a train approaches, run toward the train at a 45-degree angle and away from the track.

4. Don’t run down track, where the train could knock the vehicle into you.

Other tips:

  • Don’t drive around the gates.
  • Never try to “beat a train.”
  • At private crossings without gates, stop, look and listen before crossing.
  • Before crossing, be sure there’s enough room on the other side to safely clear the tracks.
  • If the gates are down while you’re on the crossing, drive through the gate. It’s designed to break away.
  • Report any malfunctioning gates, lights or other problems to the number on the blue sign.

Preston pleads

Courtesy of an ACLU video

An imperial wizard of Baltimore’s Confederate White Knights of the KKK, who was charged with firing a gun within 1,000 feet of a school at the Unite the Right rally, pleaded no contest May 5, just one day before his trial was scheduled to begin. Richard Preston was aiming his gun at Corey Long, who pointed a homemade flamethrower at the Klansman in a photo that went viral.

High-paying jobs

Ralph Northam

Governor Ralph Northam was in town May 2 to tout CoConstruct, a web-based company in Albemarle that helps custom homebuilders and remodelers manage their projects, and its plans to expand its IT ops and hire 69 new employees, some of whom will earn over $100,000. Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball called Charlottesville the “Camelot of Virginia.”

Northam noncommittal on Soering

In his second visit to Albemarle County in five days, Northam was at the Virginia Humanities’ folklife showcase when WVTF’s Sandy Hausman asked him about the pardon petition for Jens Soering amid increased calls from law enforcement supporting Soering’s innocence. Northam said he will stand by the decision of the parole board, which has denied parole 13 times.

Sage Smith episode

DaShad “Sage” Smith

Charlottesville police are still looking for leads in the homicide of Smith, who was last seen November 20, 2012. The disappearance is the subject of an episode on the Investigation Discovery channel show “Disappeared.” “Born this Way” airs at 7pm May 9. Police also seek information on the whereabouts of Erik McFadden, who was supposed to meet Smith the day of her disappearance.

Greene official charged

Larry Snow, Greene County commissioner of revenue, was charged with four felonies for use of trickery to obtain information stemming from a DMV investigation, according to the Greene County Record. Snow, 69, was first elected in 1987. In 2010, he was convicted of practicing law without a license, a misdemeanor.

Bad babysitter

Yowell-Rohm

Kathy Yowell-Rohm pleaded guilty to felony cruelty or injury to a child and operating a home daycare without a license after police found 16 children—most with seriously dirty diapers—from a few months old to age 4 in her home last December. She also pleaded guilty to assaulting an EMT in a parking lot at the November 24 UVA-Virginia Tech football game.

Terrys end treestand-off

Mother Red Terry, 61, and daughter Minor Terry, 30, came down May 5 from the trees on their property near Roanoke where they’d been camped since April 2 to protest the Mountain Valley Pipeline after a federal judge found them in contempt and said she’d start fining the Terrys for every day they defied her order.

Quote of the Week

“Out in the fresh air and sunshine, he could just have walked away.” —Judge Rick Moore at the trial of Alex Michael Ramos, who was convicted of the malicious wounding of DeAndre Harris.

Misidentified racist

Don Blankenship, Larry Sabato and MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell

It’s always best if the offended has a sense of humor.

A Huffington Post Instagram account called @huffpostasianvoices posted a photo of UVA’s Larry Sabato along with a story called, “GOP Senate Candidate: ‘Chinaperson’ Isn’t Racist,” referring to Don Blankenship, the West Virginian who recently used the racial slur, and who CNN editor Chris Cillizza has called “the worst candidate in America.”

Sabato did appear in an interview for the story, and on Twitter, he said, “After a loyal former student alerted me to the photo mix up, we reported it and it was quickly corrected.”

Blankenship isn’t his only doppelgänger. Two years ago, reporter Megyn Kelly noted that Sabato looks strikingly similar to the MyPillow infomercial salesman.

Tweeted the founder and director of the university’s Center for Politics, “After all, Don Blankenship, MyPillow guy and I all have a mustache, and everyone knows all mustachioed men look alike.”

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Bryan Silva’s sentencing delayed

Because of complications with paperwork, Bryan Silva's sentencing was rescheduled for October 18. Photo: Charlottesville Police

 

Bryan Silva appeared in Charlottesville Circuit Court August 17 for sentencing on charges related to a January 3 SWAT standoff, in which the 25-year-old Facebook celebrity barricaded himself inside his Jefferson Park Avenue home for several hours while posting videos of the incident on his social media pages for his thousands of fans to follow along.

He has been charged with a felony for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and three misdemeanors for brandishing a gun, contempt of court and a probation violation he made while out on bond.

Because of complications with paperwork, the sentencing was rescheduled for October 18.

Silva appeared in the courtroom—wearing sagging jeans, a gray polo shirt and gold chain—and sat in the front row with a girl he wrapped his arm around and later kissed. His brother joined him and their mother sat a few rows away.

The January standoff was initiated after Silva’s then 17-year-old girlfriend—whom he allegedly ordered not to leave his apartment after pointing the laser scope of a loaded 9mm at her—escaped and called police from a neighbor’s house earlier that morning. It is unclear if the girl in the courtroom was involved.

Judge Rick Moore has already agreed to drop an abduction charge in the case.

“He’s really a nice young man,” Silva’s attorney, Richmond-based John March, said outside of the courthouse. “I think what you see is a persona.”
He confirmed that his client is doing well, has passed all court-ordered drug tests and will remain free on bond until his sentencing.