Where’s Red Beard—and Sunglasses?
Although four people have been convicted in the August 12 assault of DeAndre Harris in the Market Street Parking Garage, video and photographs from that day show there were other attackers joining the fray who have not been arrested—or even identified.
On February 14, Charlottesville police asked for the public’s help in finding the men online activists have dubbed Red Beard and Sunglasses: “Our detectives have worked tirelessly and exhausted all efforts to identify the other two men more than a year later, and hope the public’s assistance can help bring the assailants to justice and close this case.”
That appeal spurred former mayor Dave Norris to look at his photos from August 12, and he discovered a picture of Red Beard sitting near a helmeted man. Norris posted the photo on Facebook and wondered “if the guy in the helmet next to him knows his identity.
We took a spin through our own August 12 archives, and found a photo of Sunglasses carrying a Vanguard America shield and flag, and another of him with some of his fascist pals.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Declan Hickey at 970-3542 or Crimestoppers at 977-4000.
Quote of the week
“You either believe in equity or you don’t.” —Mayor Nikuyah Walker on why tax increases are necessary to fund affordable housing and school equity
In brief
Dewberry doings
As the skeletal Landmark in downtown Charlottesville continues to molder, its owner, John Dewberry, 55, has been refurbishing a 1924 neo-classical condo in Atlanta with his 30-year-old bride. The New York Times featured the Dewberry digs recently, but for those searching for clues about movement on our historic eyesore, the only mention of Charlottesville is to note an 18th-century Hepplewhite sideboard the couple found here to complete their décor.
No. 1 seed
Despite Virginia’s disappointing 10-point loss to Florida State March 15 in the ACC semifinals, the Cavaliers got the top seed in the NCAA South Region and will play No. 16-seed Gardner-Webb University March 22 in Columbia, South Carolina. We’ll try not to think about UVA’s encounter last year with a No. 16—the UMBC Retrievers.
Youth in revolt
About 100 local kids ditched class for a cause March 15, when they joined thousands of students across America in a coordinated climate strike. Carrying signs with slogans such as “There’s No Plan(et) B,” they assembled on the Downtown Mall to protest and march. Gudrun Campbell, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Walker Upper Elementary and area event organizer, said she wants comprehensive education on climate change for grade schoolers, “so children grow up understanding the issue and that it’s based solely on science.”
Litigious candidate
State Senator Bryce Reeves has threatened to sue his 17th District Republican challenger Rich Breeden for defamation, according to Daily Progress reporter Tyler Hammel. Reeves also filed suit in his unsuccessful 2017 bid for the GOP lieutenant governor nomination, saying an email that falsely alleged an extramarital affair came from the cellphone of opponent Jill Vogel’s husband.
Home sentence
Walter Korte, the ex-UVA film studies professor who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in 2018, was granted permission March 18 to serve the remainder of his 12-month sentence—which he started in October—from home. The 75-year-old has no prior offenses, according to his attorney.