#Virginia Ku Klux Klan leader drove pickup truck into protesters, prosecutor says

A Ku Klux Klan leader from Virginia was arrested Sunday for allegedly driving his truck into a crowd of protesters, a report said.

Harry Rogers, 36, is accused of revving his engine and motoring through a group of demonstrators gathered on the median of a Richmond street at about 5:45 p.m., the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, citing a county prosecutor.

One person at the scene was checked out for injuries, but refused medical attention, police said.

Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor called the alleged episode “heinous and despicable” and said her office “will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” according to the report.

Rogers, who was hit with several charges, including attempted malicious wounding, “is an admitted leader of the Ku Klux Klan and a propagandist for Confederate ideology,” Taylor said.

Her office is weighing the possibility of hate crime charges, the report said.

In an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Rogers’ girlfriend said he was trying to flee from protesters after somebody hit her 14-year-old son, who was riding in the passenger seat of Rogers’ truck.

“He tried to drive over a median to get my son out of danger,” she told the paper.

Police are investigating those accusations.

Rogers went out Sunday after he heard protesters had gathered near the statue of Confederate general A. P. Hill, his girlfriend said.

He planned to “observe” and report to police if the statue was vandalized.

“He did not go there with violent tendencies,” his girlfriend said.