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Three Charlottesville marchers were indicted by a Virginian grand jury for allegedly burning an object with the “intent to intimidate” during a “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.
An Albemarle County grand jury has indicted three individuals with one count of burning an object with the intent to intimidate during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 that left one person dead and injured 19 others.
Albemarle County’s former commonwealth attorney, Robert Tracci, declined to pursue charges while he was in office, which is what led to the delay. Tracci was replaced by current commonwealth attorney, James Hingeley, in a 2020 election.
A release by Hingeley did not say how many people have been indicted or list their names, but unsealed court records have listed William Zachary Smith of Nacona, Texas; Tyler Bradley Dykes of Bluffton, South Carolina; and Dallas Medina of Ravenna, Ohio as the defendants.
Burning an object with the intent to intimidate is a low-level felony offense that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. There is no statute of limitations for those charges in Virginia.
Trump Calls Charlottesville Marchers “Very Fine People”
Former President Donald Trump claimed after the Charlottesville rally that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the clashes between White supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators.
The anti-racist demonstrators were marching in opposition to a White supremacist rally that was permitted by the city when a White national terrorist drove his car through a crowd.
Trump claimed there were “very fine people on both sides” and also claimed “there is blame on both sides”.
In 2021, a statue of Robert E. Lee, the confederate general who fought to maintain chattel slavery, was removed from Charlottesville as well as a statue of Stonewall Jackson.
Albemarle prosecutors said the indictments are “part of a criminal investigation that is active and ongoing,” adding that “this is our process regardless of how much time has passed or where the alleged offenders may be found.”