Black man beaten at rally acquitted in separate attack

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A black man who was severely beaten the day of a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and then was charged with misdemeanor assault in the same incident was found not guilty Friday.

A Charlottesville judge acquitted 20-year-old Deandre Harris, saying it was clear Harris didn’t intend to harm the leader of a Southern nationalist group who made a complaint against him.

Photos and videos of the Aug. 12 attack on Harris by a group of men in a parking garage were widely shared online. Harris was seriously injured.

“I don’t see that Mr. Harris did anything wrong that day,” Judge Robert Downer said, according to The Daily Progress. “It’s all on tape for me to see.”

Harold Crews, North Carolina chairman of the League of the South — which advocates for Southern states to again secede — sought the charge against Harris.

Harris testified Friday that he thought Crews was attacking a friend of his and went over to defend him. Then, he said, someone sprayed him with mace and “everything was a blur after that,” the newspaper reported.

Four men have been charged in connection with the attack on Harris: Alex Michael Ramos of Georgia, Daniel Borden of Ohio, Jacob Scott Goodwin of Arkansas and Tyler Watkins Davis of Florida.