Another crop of alt-righters and counterprotesters arrested for acts related to the infamous Unite the Right rally were heard in Charlottesville General District Court today.
Chattanooga, Tennessee, resident Troy Dunigan says he drove seven hours to plead guilty to a disorderly conduct charge for throwing an empty bottle at a group of white nationalists.
“I saw the Nazis marching through and got frustrated with them and threw an empty water bottle,” says Dunigan. “I’m proud of it, honestly, because Nazis are evil and they shouldn’t be allowed to march through the streets.”
Dunigan, who was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and a $200 fine, says he watched as angry white men chased a group of African-American people down West Market Street with no police intervention—but he was arrested for a crime less savage.
“There was so much violence that day and I threw an empty plastic water bottle,” he says. “Why me?”
David Parrot, a Paoli, Indiana, man charged with failure to disperse in a riot, was not present, but was found guilty of the class three misdemeanor and fined $250. A police officer testified that Parrot was in front of the General Robert E. Lee statue in Emancipation Park after the state had declared the neo-Nazi gathering an unlawful assembly, and when the cop asked him to leave, he said, “We will not be replaced.”
James O’Brien, charged with carrying a concealed handgun, told Judge Robert Downer he is still working to hire an attorney. His hearing was continued to November 20.
Also scheduled to appear was Steven Balcaitis, a York, South Carolina, resident charged with assault at McIntire Park after the rally. He pleaded guilty September 18 and received a 180-day suspended sentence.
The judge also spoke with lawyers representing Brandon Collins and Jeffrey Winder, two men accused of assaulting Jason Kessler at a press conference he attempted to hold August 13. They are scheduled to appear November 17.
Updated September 25 with the Steven Balcaitis guilty plea.