Black man beaten by white nationalists is charged with assaulting man in Charlottesville melee | The Independent |

black man who was brutally beaten as he protested a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned himself in to police Thursday after he was charged with assaulting a white, self-described “Southern nationalist.”

DeAndre Harris’ bludgeoning by a group of white nationalists was captured in a video that went viral and spurred accusations that police were not doing enough to bring his attackers to justice.

The arrest of Harris, a 20-year-old hip-hop artist and former teacher’s aide, seemed likely to intensify that criticism. After Charlottesville police served Harris with a warrant at 8:30 a.m. Thursday charging him with “unlawful wounding” — a felony charge that carries up to five years in prison — Harris was taken before a magistrate judge and released on an unsecured bond.

“It’s very upsetting,” said the attorney, S. Lee Merritt, who insists Harris is innocent of the charge. “It seems the judicial system in this case has bent over backwards to further assist in further victimizing DeAndre.”

According to the warrant, Harris is charged with unlawfully stabbing, cutting or wounding Harold Ray Crews with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill. The magistrate judge, Merlyn Goeschl, said she found probable cause to believe Harris committed the offense based on the personal statements of Crews.

Crews is chairman of the North Carolina chapter of the League of the South, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a neo-Confederate group that advocates for an American society dominated by people of European ancestry.

Harris was not handcuffed or placed in a cell, Merritt said. After an arraignment Friday, his next court appearance will be a preliminary hearing set for mid-December.


Video of the incident appears to show a scuffle between the two in which Mr Harris swings a torch at a man identified by US media as Mr Crews, who lunges at him with the pole of a Confederate flag.

Mr Harris’ attorney maintains the torch did not “make significant contact” with Mr Crews, who describes himself on Twitter as a “Southern Nationalist, Attorney”.

More below the fold …

State Chairmen and Organizers of the League of the South | SPL |

Presenting itself as the premier “Southern Nationalist” organization, the League purports to stand for “the southern people,” which it defines as “white, Christians of Anglo-Celtic stock” who live in a geographic area variously described as “the states of the Old Confederacy,” “the Bible belt,” and “white man’s land.”

The following is a rundown of several League of the South state chairmen and leaders across the Southeast who are expected to play a role in the upcoming Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally organized by local blogger Jason Kessler this coming Saturday, August 12.


In spite of the Kentucky League of the South’s low membership, which Borum has identified as consisting of just 11 dues-paying members, Borum has apparently attempted to expand his outreach by partnering with hosts at The Right Stuff Confederates’ spinoff website Identity Dixie to host a podcast titled “Radio Free Dixie.”

Seemingly unaware of the similarly titled radio show hosted by North Carolina NAACP president Robert F. Williams while exiled in Cuba during the Civil Rights Movement, the show’s host — who identifies himself as “Barnwell Rhett,” a reference to the Southern Fire-Eater — is referred to by several guests as “Spencer.” “Barnwell Rhett” also identifies himself as a Florida native living in Kentucky, biographical details that match with available records for Spencer Borum.

Borum/Rhett uses his podcast to expound on his racist views and to interview LOS leadership and personalities on the Neo-Confederate fringe of the Alt-Right that has been dubbed the “Alt South.”

In one episode of “Radio Free Dixie” with the pseudonymous Charlie Stewart, who hosts another Identity Dixie podcast titled “Thistle and Briar,” Borum and Stewart identify themselves as veterans and outline the equipment — including firearms, camouflage, armor and training — Alt-Right activists will need in the event of a civil conflict in the United States.

Harold Ray Crews

Harold Ray Crews, 48, runs a family law practice out of Kernersville, North Carolina, and lives in nearby Walkertown, where the NC LOS lists its PO Box. Chairman of the NC LOS, Crews also operates the League’s Facebook, website and a podcast titled “Southern Nationalist Radio,” where he frequently interviews Michael Hill, Mark Thomey of the Alabama League of the South, and Brad Griffin, a League of the South member who operates the blog Occidental Dissent.

Crews also runs a YouTube channel where he lists affiliation with both the League of the South and the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), a group that has lately been greatly maligned by LOS members as a “‘weak sister’ who cannot stand to be called a racist, anti-Semite, xenophobe, white supremacist.”  

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