A Virginia Klan leader and “propagandist for Confederate ideology” who revved his engine before plowing into BLM protesters, then reportedly boasted, “they scattered like cockroaches. It’s kind of funny if you ask me,” got 6 years in prison on misdemeanor charges of assault, property damage, and fleeing the accident scene. Harry Rogers, 36, was arrested nearby. He still faces malicious wounding felony charges for injuring 3 people. A judge rejected hate crime charges because all the victims were white. The incident occurred on June 7, 2020, in Henrico County. Read story here and/or watch video below.
Crimes are classified as felonies or misdemeanors by statutes. Jail time for misdemeanors cannot exceed 12 months, but Rogers was convicted of 6 misdemeanors and the judge imposed consecutive sentences. If the sentences were concurrent, he would serve all 6 of the 12-month sentences at the same time and get out of jail after 12 months.
A hearing is set on the felony charges in September, and of course he’s presumed innocent until found guilty by a court, but if he’s convicted of those charges and gets more consecutive sentences, he could be out of circulation for quite a while.
While protesters have assaulted police and committed other acts of violence, there also have been multiple incidents of violence against protesters, including several involving driving vehicles into crowds of protesters. Vehicles seem to be a favored weapon of rightwing domestic terrorists now.