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Richard Preston, 53, who identified himself to media as the
Imperial Wizard of the KKK white supremacist group, pleaded
guilty in Charlottesville Circuit Court. According to media
reports, Preston has argued he was acting in self defense.
At the same "Unite the Right" rally, a man drove a car into a
group of demonstrators protesting against white nationalists,
killing a woman. James Alex Fields faces murder and hate crime
charges in forthcoming trials in that incident.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia had posted a
video on Twitter of a man, who media reports identified as
Preston, walking in a crowd past a man wielding a flamethrower,
before walking back toward the man and firing at him at close
range.
Preston was charged with shooting a firearm within 1,000 feet
(305m) of a school. In addition to the prison sentence, he
received three years probation, according to court documents.
The man with the flamethrower, Corey Long, was not injured. Long
was found guilty of disorderly conduct, according to court
records. He has appealed the sentence, and the appeal trial will
start in January.
Prosecutors and Preston's lawyer were not immediately available
to comment.
(Reporting by Makini Brice; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie
Adler)
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