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It’s been almost seven years since self-proclaimed white nationalists took over Charlottesville, Virginia, burning tiki torches and causing havoc all over the city. One of the white men charged with using flaming torches to intimidate counter protesters will finally be held accountable for his heinous actions.
According to AP, the trial of Jacob Dix, 29, is set to begin Tuesday, making Dix the first person tried under a 2002 law that makes it a felony to burn something to intimidate and cause fear of injury or death.
In April 2023, 11 people were indicted and charged with intimidation by fire. Of the 11, five have pleaded guilty and Dix is the first to go on trial.
On Aug. 11, 2017 alt-right, neo-Nazi, and far-right militia hate groups traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue, which stood in the city for almost a century.
White nationalists marched through the University of Virginia campus carrying torches and chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us.”
The white nationalist protest was met by counter protesters who opposed the rallies’ racist intentions. The incident turned extremely violent, prompting Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to declare a state of emergency, but by then it was too late.
The violence in Charlottesville ended with the loss of innocent life.
Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty
Self-identified white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a sea of protesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring more than 30 others.
Fields was arrested, charged and eventually convicted in 2018 of first-degree murder, malicious wounding, as well as other crimes. He also pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus 419 years.
In 2023, Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, another participant in the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, died by suicide ahead of a drug trial.
From the Daily Beast:
The 35-year-old skipped out on his first day of trial for a drug trafficking charge in Arizona on the morning of Jan. 30, according to court records. At the very moment a federal judge was issuing a warrant for his arrest, Von Nukem was actually still at his home in Missouri, where he had walked out in the snow behind the hay shed and shot himself.
Since the 2017 tragedy in Charlottesville, Jacob Dix has claimed to be a changed man.
“I’m kind of on trial for a past life,” he told The Daily Progress newspaper.
The trial will take place in Albemarle Circuit Court and is expected to last about a week, according to AP.
SEE ALSO:
Remembering Charlottesville: A Look Back At The Deadly ‘Unite The Right’ Rally [PHOTOS]
