4th man convicted in 2017 rally beating

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A fourth man was found guilty Friday of brutally attacking a 20-year-old black man in a city parking garage during the deadly “Unite the Right” white-nationalist rally in 2017.

Tyler Watkins Davis, 50, of Middleburg, Fla., once a member of the white-nationalist group the League of the South, entered an Alford plea in Charlottesville Circuit Court on a charge of malicious wounding. The Alford plea acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him in the assault on DeAndre Harris, a former special education instructional assistant. However, Davis said he believes the charge, which carries a sentencing range of five to 20 years, is too severe and doesn’t reflect his actions, according to his attorney.

During Friday’s hearing, prosecutors told Judge Richard Moore that Davis was seen on video whacking Harris in the head with a wooden stick — a tire thumper. The resulting head injury required eight staples.

In the 18 months since the August 2017 rally, Albermarle County and Charlottesville prosecutors have secured convictions and harsh sentences for the rally’s seven most high-profile criminal defendants. Four of the seven include the men who pummeled and kicked Harris in the Market Street parking garage. Harris suffered a spinal injury in addition to the head wound.

Davis will be sentenced Aug. 27.