In the two years since Unite the Right, a number of Charlottesville rally goers have committed crimes motivated by white supremacist ideology.
Taylor Michael Wilson of Missouri was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a terrorism charge for his armed takeover of an Amtrak train as it passed through rural Nebraska. This took place just two months after attending the Unite the Right rally. During their investigation the FBI searched Wilson’s home and reportedly found numerous firearms, Nazi propaganda, body armor, ammunition and pressure plates that can be used to make explosive devices.
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In October 2017, Unite the Right attendees Tyler Eugene Tenbrink and Colton Gene Fears, both of Texas,
were arrested in Gainesville, Florida, on charges of attempted homicide, for their roles in an altercation with counter-protesters following Richard Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida. Tenbrink, who fired a handgun at counter-protesters during the altercation, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a felon.
[xix] Colton Fears, who served as Tenbrink’s getaway driver, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to the charge of accessory after the fact to attempted first degree murder.
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In November 2018, another notable Unite the Right alumnus, Washington D.C. resident
Jeffrey Raphiel Clark Jr., was charged with illegal transportation of a firearm across state lines, possession of an illegal high-capacity magazine and unlawful use of a controlled substance. According to the FBI and Clark’s relatives, Jeffrey and his younger brother, Edward William Clark, who also attended Unite the Right, were active white supremacists who advocated for a race war between whites and non-whites. Jeffrey, an online associate of alleged Tree of Life synagogue attacker Robert Bowers, came to the attention of authorities after family members contacted law enforcement out of concern that Clark might become violent after his younger brother, Edward, killed himself the same day as the Tree of Life attack. Last month (July 23, 2019), Clark pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of firearms by a person who is an unlawful user of a controlled substance. Clark is scheduled to be sentenced on September 13.
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Two individuals connected to Unite the Right are facing hate crime charges. In December 2018, Travis David Condor of Pennsylvania, who attended the Charlottesville rally, was
one of eight individuals arrested for allegedly assaulting and shouting racial slurs at a black man in Lynnwood, Washington. Another man, Brandon Troy Higgs of Maryland, was found guilty in January 2020 of attempted voluntary manslaughter, first-degree assault, hate crimes and weapon charges. Higgs’ case stemmed from a December 2018 altercation with two construction workers which started with racial slurs and ended with one worker being shot.
[xxii][xxiii] Higgs, using the screen name “
Americana-MD,” allegedly made hundreds of posts in a Discord chat room focused on planning Unite the Right.
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