DeAndre Harris, the black man who was attacked at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last year, has been found not guilty of assault.
Harris was attacked by several white assailants, who were captured on video beating him with a metal pipe. One of them pursued a charge of malicious wounding against Harris, saying that the attackers seen beating Harris were in fact the victims. A warrant for Harris’ arrest was issued in October with the charge of unlawful wounding.
Violent clashes over a white nationalism rally overtook the university town of Charlottesville last August, injuring multiple people. White supremacist James Alex Fields drove his car into a crowd, and killed 32-year-old counterprotester Heather Heyer.
Although the federal charges against Harris were dropped in December, he still faced a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery. If convicted, he could have faced one year in jail and a $2,500 fine, Buzzfeed reports.
He suffered a spinal injury and needed 10 stitches from the attack.
At the time, Harris’ lawyer S. Lee Merritt said that “while [Harris] participated in some of the jeering of the white supremacists in his city, letting them know they were not welcome there, he did not instigate any physical assault. That was done by the men carrying blunt objects and weapons.”
