Suspects Indicted Years After White Nationalist Charlottesville Rally

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — A group of torch-wielding marchers have been indicted nearly six years after a White Nationalist rally in Charlottesville erupted in violent clashes with counterprotesters and claimed the life of a 32-year-old woman.

Albemarle County Commonwealth's Attorney James Hingeley said in a news release that a grand jury indicted multiple people in connection with an event on Aug. 11, 2017. The individuals were charged with burning an object with the intent to intimidate, a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

Hingeley did not name the individuals indicted in the news release. When emailed by Patch, Hingeley declined to specify how many people were indicted.

According to electronic court records from The Associated Press, indictments against three people have been unsealed, including William Zachary Smith, of Nacona, Texas; Tyler Bradley Dykes, of Bluffton, South Carolina; and Dallas Medina, of Ravenna, Ohio.

The indictments, issued in February but only recently unsealed, come almost six years after violence broke out during two days of demonstrations by the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade.

The two-day Unite the Right event in Charlottesville started with hundreds of neo-Nazis and white supremacists marching through the grounds of the University of Virginia, carrying torches and chanting Nazi and white supremacist slogans.

As the march made its way to the north side of the Rotunda, the extremists surrounded a group of UVA students and local residents who had locked arms around a statue of Thomas Jefferson and attacked them.

On Aug. 12, 2017, a day after the torch march, James Alex Fields Jr., a white supremacist from Maumee, Ohio, rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.

Fields is serving a life sentence for murder and hate crimes.

Related:

• Charlottesville 'Unite The Right' Rally: 1 Killed As Car Hits Crowd; 2 Troopers Die In Helicopter Crash
• White Nationalist Rally In Charlottesville: Unlawful Assembly Declared, Clashes Reported At Emancipation Park

Tensions began in Charlottesville on Aug. 11, 2017, as torch-wielding white nationalists marched through the University of Virginia campus chanting things like "blood and soil" and "Jews will not replace us." The marchers clashed with counter-protesters at the base of a statue of UVA founder Thomas Jefferson.

The rally the next day opposed the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The city council had voted to sell the statue.

Prosecutors said the indictments were issued "as part of a criminal investigation that is active and ongoing," adding they work with law enforcement to investigate, analyze applicable laws, and bring charges "when appropriate."

"This is our process regardless of how much time has passed or where the alleged offenders may be found," they said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.