One of the white supremacists who attacked a black man inside a parking garage during the Charlottesville white supremacist rally last August that would soon afterward turn deadly when another rallier intentionally drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, has been found guilty of malicious wounding. He’s in for some serious jail time.
Jacob Scott Goodwin, 23, who wore a military tactical helmet and brandished a large shield during the Aug. 12 attack against DeAndre Harris, was convicted by a jury of nine women and three men.
The jury recommended a sentence of 10 years, with the option of suspending some of the time and a $20,000 fine. The presiding judge, Richard E. Moore, will set the sentence on Aug. 23. When the court clerk read the jury’s recommendation, Goodwin’s mother let out a loud gasp.
Goodwin, who came to the rally wearing pins associated with neo-Nazi groups and fitted out for confrontation, had claimed throughout the trial that his actions were in self-defense. The jury didn't buy it.
In her closing arguments, Antony showed the jury a photo of Goodwin dressed in a helmet and goggles and reminded them he was clasping a large plastic shield. [...]
The jury watched multiple videos of the attack from different vantage points showing Goodwin hitting Harris with a shield and kicking him while he was on the ground. Other men join in, hitting Harris with a board and a large pole. When Harris managed to get up, they yelled obscenities at him, telling him, “Get out!”
Goodwin was brought to trial after a nationwide effort to identify the perpetrators from footage of the attack was launched by activist Shaun King, and is the first of those perpetrators to face trial. It turns out that juries are not as keen on allowing white nationalist violence on our soil—something for future boot-and-helmet-wearing fake revolutionaries to consider in future rallies.