HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A hate crime investigation is underway by the Virginia Commonweath's Attorney against the self-proclaimed president of the Virginia KKK after he allegedly drove his pickup truck into a group of protesters on Sunday.
36-year-old Harry Rogers of Hanover, Virginia, was arrested Sunday after police say several witnesses saw Rogers rev his engine and drive into a crowd of protesters.
The person who called police was checked by rescue at the scene and refused further treatment.
The protest was one of the dozens of anti-police brutality marches that have taken place around the nation following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd.
No one was injured during the incident. One protester reported that his bicycle was damaged.
Rogers appeared in Henrico Court Monday morning, where he agreed to receive a court-appointed attorney. He was formally charged with two felonies — attempted malicious wounding and destruction of property — as well as misdemeanor assault and battery.
During Monday's court appearance, prosecutors alleged Rogers told his arresting officers that he was the president of the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia and the highest-ranking member currently not in prison.
"The accused, by his own admission and by a cursory glance at social media, is an admitted leader of the Ku Klux Klan and a propagandist for Confederate ideology," Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said in a statement. "We are investigating whether hate crimes charges are appropriate."
She urged witnesses to call Henrico Police at 804-501-5000.
"While I am grateful that the victim's injuries do not appear to be serious, an attack on peaceful protesters is heinous and despicable and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," she said. "We lived through this in Virginia in Charlottesville in 2017. I promise Henricoans that this egregious criminal act will not go unpunished. Hate has no place here under my watch.
Rogers is due back in court in August.
This story was originally published by WTVR in Richmond, Virginia.
