An Indiana man is awaiting extradition to Virginia on charges of assaulting two people during August’s deadly clash between white supremacists and anti-racism demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Dennis Lloyd Mothersbaugh, 37, was arrested Thursday in Jennings County, Indiana, and charged with assault and battery related to the Aug. 12 “Unite the Right” rally, the Charlottesville Police Department said in a statement. He waived extradition and will be transferred imminently to Charlottesville to face charges, the statement said.
Hundreds of people including white supremacists and neo-Nazis in August descended on Charlottesville to attend “Unite the Right,” a rally advertised as a protest over the planned removal of a statue in the city honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Their demonstrations were canceled when violence broke out on the morning of the event and attendees began clashing with anti-fascism counterprotesters.
Much of the violence was captured by cellphone cameras, including a clip allegedly showing Mr. Mothersbaugh punching a man in the side and then striking a woman in the face.
Shaun King, an activist and writer with a popular web presence, said on Sept. 18 that social media sleuths had identified the assailant as Mr. Mothersbaugh and demanded his arrest.
According to Mr. King, Mr. Mothersbaugh was identified after internet detectives uncovered an interview in which he discussed several of his distinguishing tattoos, including one on the back of his head containing a quote attributed to late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain.
The accused has a “long and violent” criminal record and was charged at least twice before with threatening African-American men, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a watchdog that monitors extremists and hate groups.
The Jennings County Sheriff’s Department said that a warrant for the suspect’s arrest had been pending since Sept. 18, but that authorities couldn’t take him into custody until Charlottesville requested his extradition, a law enforcement spokesperson told The Republic newspaper in Columbus, Indiana.
The warrant was reissued Thursday along with an extradition request and Mr. Mothersbaugh was arrested shortly afterwards, Jennings County Sheriff Gary Driver told The Republic.
Mr. Mothersbaugh is the third of four individuals identified on social media following the Unite the Right rally accused of attacking counterprotesters, according to Mr. King.
Ohio resident Daniel Borden, 18, and Michael Alex Ramos, 33, of Georgia, were arrested last month and charged with beating 20-year-old Deandre Harris during the “Unite the Right” rally after similarly being identified on social media.
James Alex Fields, a 20-year-old Ohio man, was arrested on the day of the rally and charged with second-degree murder, among other counts, in connection with allegedly driving a car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring 19 others.
The Charlottesville City Council is expected to vote Monday on honorarily renaming the street where the incident occurred after Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old paralegal Mr. Fields is accused of killing.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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