Current:Home > NewsTrial set to begin for man charged in 2017 Charlottesville torch rally at the University of Virginia-LoTradeCoin
Trial set to begin for man charged in 2017 Charlottesville torch rally at the University of Virginia
View Date:2024-12-23 23:17:37
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Years after a white nationalist rally erupted in violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, a trial is set to begin Tuesday for one of the people charged with using flaming torches to intimidate counterprotesters.
The trial of Jacob Joseph Dix, 29, of Clarksville, Ohio, would be the first test of a 2002 law that makes it a felony to burn something to intimidate and cause fear of injury or death. Lawmakers passed the law after the state Supreme Court ruled that a cross-burning statute used to prosecute Ku Klux Klan members was unconstitutional.
On the night of Aug. 11, 2017, several hundred white nationalists marched through the campus of the University of Virginia, many carrying torches and some chanting, “Jews Will Not Replace Us.” Two days of demonstrations were organized in part to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and was believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade.
Indictments unsealed last year showed 11 people had been charged with intimidation by fire, but prosecutors have not said whether additional defendants were also charged. So far, five people have pleaded guilty to the charge. Dix is the first to go on trial.
After the clash at the university, violence broke out the next day when a “Unite the Right” rally was planned. After police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and the crowd began to disperse, James Alex Fields Jr., a white supremacist from Maumee, Ohio, intentionally rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring dozens. Fields is serving a life sentence for murder and hate crimes.
Dix told The Daily Progress newspaper that he has changed during the last seven years.
“I’m kind of on trial for a past life,” he told the newspaper during a court hearing in January.
Dix’s attorney, Peter Frazier, has argued in court documents that the white nationalists were expressing free speech protected under the First Amendment.
Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case after a judge granted a request from Dix’s attorney to remove Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney James Hingeley’s office from the case because of a conflict of interest involving an assistant commonwealth’s attorney.
The trial in Albemarle Circuit Court is expected to last about a week.
veryGood! (337)
Related
- The results are in: Peanut the Squirrel did not have rabies, county official says
- Khloe Kardashian Makes Son Tatum Thompson’s Name Official
- Owners of Scranton Times-Tribune, 3 other Pennsylvania dailies sell to publishing giant
- More than 60 gay suspects detained at same-sex wedding in Nigeria
- Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
- Biden approves Medal of Honor for Army helicopter pilot who rescued soldiers in a Vietnam firefight
- Weeks after the fire, the response in Maui shifts from a sprint to a marathon
- Travis Barker Returns Home From Blink-182 Tour for Urgent Family Matter
- How Alex Jones’ Infowars wound up in the hands of The Onion
- Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson launch People's Fund of Maui to aid wildfire victims
Ranking
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- 14-year-old accused of trying to drown Black youth in pond charged with attempted murder
- 2nd man charged in July shooting at massive Indiana block party that killed 1, injured 17
- Stock market today: Asian shares trade mixed ahead of a key US jobs report
- Maine dams face an uncertain future
- Yale President Peter Salovey to step down next year with plans to return to full-time faculty
- Friends Almost Re-Cast This Actress Over Lack of Chemistry With David Schwimmer
- New York City is embracing teletherapy for teens. It may not be the best approach
Recommendation
-
Burger King's 'Million Dollar Whopper' finalists: How to try and vote on your favorite
-
North Carolina GOP legislator Paré running for Democrat-controlled US House seat
-
With UAW strike looming, contract negotiations may lead to costlier EVs. Here's why
-
Tropical Storm Jose forms in the Atlantic Ocean
-
Pedro Pascal's Sister Lux Pascal Debuts Daring Slit on Red Carpet at Gladiator II Premiere
-
Ohio lawmaker stripped of leadership after a second arrest in domestic violence case
-
'We saw nothing': Few signs of domestic violence before woman found dead in trunk, family says
-
Shay Mitchell Shares Stress-Free Back to School Tips and Must-Haves for Parents