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Hate Crime Charges Brought Against KKK Member Who Drove Into Protestors

Henrico County Sheriff's Office via AP

Prosecutors are bringing hate crime charges against a self-proclaimed member of the Ku Klux Klan after he drove his car through a crowd of protestors in Henrico County earlier this month.

 

A judge denied Harry Rogers, a Hanover County resident, release on bond Thursday. Rogers drove his truck through a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7th. Some people were injured, although none

seriously.

 

Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor decided the evidence in the case is enough to bring hate crime charges against Rogers. She says investigators found Klan literature in his truck, and she has no doubt he was motivated by racism. 

 

“In his statement he had told law enforcement that the purpose for him being out there that day was to ‘protect the monument’ and that he was doing this at the direction of the Klan,” Taylor said said a phone interview Thursday. 

 

Taylor’s office argues Rogers’ intention was to scare, intimidate and injure protestors. “A group of individuals, black and white, who in his ideology are lesser than him,” she said.  

 

Rogers is being charged with four counts of assault, a felony hit and run, and two felony counts of attempted malicious wounding. His next court date is August 10th.

 
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Mallory Noe-Payne is a Radio IQ reporter based in Richmond.