The victim of an attack at the Charlottesville, Va. white nationalist rally has now been charged himself.
DeAndre Harris, a 20-year-old black man, was charged with unlawful wounding in the Aug. 12 rally that turned violent.
One man alleges Harris injured him during the violent clashes in Charlottesville. He was identified by Harris’ lawyer S. Lee Merritt as Harold Ray Crews.
Harris marched in counter protests to the rally that inflamed the world after a woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when a car drove into the crowd.
Harris was seen bloodied and beaten by at least six men with metal pipes and other weapons after being attacked during the rally in August.
Video of the incident went viral on social media, prompting the identification of two men who were charged.
Harris was left with a concussion, abrasions, and contusions across his body, as well as a head laceration that required staples, a knee injury and a fractured wrist after the clash, Merritt said.
The details of Crews’ injuries weren’t listed.
While Harris’ lawyer said he is making arrangements for Harris to surrender, he also said there isn’t enough probable cause to charge him.
“We find it highly offensive and upsetting, but what’s more jarring is that he’s been charged with the same crime as the men who attacked him,” Merritt told the Washington Post.
Merritt said in a statement the charge was orchestrated by neo-nazi group the League of the South.
Lt. Stephen Upman says the alleged victim told the magistrate’s office, a judicial office in Virginia, what happened. The magistrate contacted police, Upman said, who then issued the warrant.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the charge a “desperate and vindictive attempt to smear the victims.”
*with files from the Associated Press