Corey Long, the black man who wielded an flamethrower against white nationalists at the march in Charlottesville in August, has been arrested.
Things in the Virginia town turned violent on Aug. 12 when white supremacists gathered for a rally to protest Charlotteville’s plan to take down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Long and his flamethrower were captured in a photo that went viral. In the photo, he can be seen aiming the flamethrower at the white supremacist protesters.
Charlottesville police investigators arrested Long on Friday and charged him with assault and battery, and disorderly conduct. The disorderly conduct charge is for his makeshift flamethrower, while the assault and battery charge is related to a different incident during the rally, according to a Charlottesville police spokesman.
“Getting arrested is no dishonor if you are standing up against hatred and injustice,” according to a post Long shared on Facebook that was written by his lawyer. “Getting shot while on the battlefield is sometimes a necessary reality if you are a true soldier operating against enemy fire in enemy territory.”
He was released on an unsecured bond.
Long’s arrest makes him the second black counterprotester to be arrested in two days in relation to Aug. 12. It came a day after DeAndre Harris was arrested Thursday for “unlawful wounding.” A group of white men were videotaped beating him so badly that he received a concussion and a head laceration. Yet, he is the one to be arrested.
“It’s very upsetting,” his attorney S. Lee Merritt said after the arrest warrant was issued, insisting his client was innocent of the charge. “It seems the judicial system in this case has bent over backwards to further assist in further victimizing DeAndre.”
So far, three of his attackers have been arrested.