HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) – A Hanover man accused of revving his car’s engine before driving into a crowd of protesters in Richmond was denied bond this morning and additional charges were filed in his case.
Harry Rogers, who goes by “Skip,” was arrested on June 7 after witnesses say he drove into a group of protestors on Lakeside Avenue in Richmond’s north side neighborhood. The 36-year-old told Henrico officers at the time that he is the “highest ranking member of the KKK.” 8News found Rogers’ social media pages filled with Confederate ideology, but those pages have since been deactivated.
Henrico’s Commonwealth’s Attorney today filed additional charges against Rogers including:
- Four counts of assault with hate crimes (as permitted by Virginia Code 18.2-57 A)
- Two counts of felonious attempted malicious wounding
- One count of felony hit and run
“After further in-depth investigation, where we spoke with over two dozen witnesses and several victims, I determined that additional charges were warranted,” stated Shannon Taylor, Commonwealth’s Attorney, in a press release. “… We are augmenting the original charges which were one count of assault and battery, one count of attempted malicious wounding, and one count of felony vandalism of property.” – Read Shannon Taylor’s complete statement
FROM PREVIOUS REPORTS
June 8: Back in 2016, The Progress-Index, a local newspaper, snapped a picture of Rogers at the WWII Memorial in Colonial Heights wearing a white Klan robe, waving a Confederate flag. He also participated in numerous Confederate flag rides.
The Progress-Index article states Rogers is the organizer of the NAACP (National Association for Awakening Confederate Patriots). The groups Facebook page reads, “the other NAACP.”
“We believe that Mr. Rogers targeted this group of individuals because of race,” Taylor added.
“He did tell the investigators that we had 20 other people there to help him in that endeavor. We know that from a social media post, close in time, I believe 72 hours before this incident that he, in a banter with someone, an argument on social media, made the comment Black lives splatter.”
