Man who drove into Lakeside protesters will face hate-crime charges

A Hanover man who drove his truck into a crowd of protesters in Lakeside June 7 will face five new charges – including four counts of assault with hate crimes – according to Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.

“After further in-depth investigation, where we spoke with over two dozen witnesses and several victims, I determined that additional charges were warranted,” Taylor said.

The additional warrants were served on Harry “Skip” Rogers June 24, according to Taylor. Rogers, 36, describes himself as the leader of the Virginia Ku Klux Klan.

Rogers initially was charged with one count of assault and battery, one county of attempted malicious wounding and one count of felony vandalism of property after striking pedestrians near Roy’s Big Burger on Lakeside Avenue.

In addition to those charges, he now faces the four new assault charges and a felony hit-and-run charge, Taylor said.

“I am charging Mr. Rogers with the strongest form of assault and hate crimes permitted under Virginia law. As I said when this heinous event occurred, I will not tolerate this violence in Henrico. I have no doubt Mr. Rogers was motivated by bigotry and racism and should be severely punished for his egregious criminal behavior. I very much appreciate the witnesses and victims who came forward to speak to the investigation.”

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