During his arrest, Rogers told officers he was the president of the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia and the highest-ranking member not imprisoned, according to a county official
Prosecutors said the man arrested for driving into protesters in Virginia on Sunday has been identified as a self-proclaimed Ku Klux Klan leader named Harry Rogers, CBS affiliate WTVR reports. Rogers has been charged with attempted malicious wounding, destruction of property, and assault and battery, police said.
A hate crime investigation is now underway, Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said, according to WTVR. In court on Monday, Taylor said during his arrest, Rogers told officers he was the president of the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia and the highest-ranking member not imprisoned.
“The accused, by his own admission and by a cursory glance at social media, is an admitted leader of the Ku Klux Klan and a propagandist for Confederate ideology,” Taylor said in a statement released after court. “We are investigating whether hate crimes charges are appropriate.”
In a jailhouse interview with WTVR’s Robert Hughes, Rogers admitted he had ties to the KKK, but denied that he told police he was the president.
