A Virginia man who allegedly drove his truck into a group of protestors told police he was a leader in the Ku Klux Klan.
Harry H. Rogers, 36, has been charged with attempted malicious wounding, destruction of property, and assault and battery after allegedly driving his truck into a group of protestors outside of Richmond on Sunday evening.
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“Several witnesses reported that a vehicle revved their engine and drove through the protesters occupying the roadway,” police said in a statement, WTVR, the New York Times and Richmond Times-Dispatch report.
However, prosecutors are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
“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,” Shannon L. Taylor, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Henrico County, said in a statement. “We are investigating whether hate crimes charges are appropriate.”
Protests over racial injustice and police brutality started last month in Minneapolis when footage of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a white police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck, surfaced online.
In the wake of Floyd’s death, protests have been held in many U.S. cities and around the world.
RELATED: Hundreds Arrested Across the U.S. as Protests Over George Floyd’s Death Continue to Erupt
No one was seriously injured in Sunday’s incident, Taylor said, calling Rogers’ alleged actions “heinous and despicable.”
It is unclear whether police have confirmed Rogers’ claims about his involvement in the Ku Klux Klan.
This is not the first time he has been in the news.
In 2013, CBS 6 did a story about a large confederate flag being raised outside of Rogers’ home.
“It makes me feel proud,” he told the station at the time.
Three years later, in 2016, Rogers held a Confederate flag in front of a local war memorial while wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. He told a local paper he was the organizer of the National Association for Awakening Confederate Patriots.
Rogers is currently being held without bond. Attorney information was not available Tuesday.