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Richard Preston, charged with firing a gun at August 12 rally, granted $50,000 bond

Photo: WINA


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WINA) – Two men were in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Thursday, January 4, for bond hearings in two cases connected with the Unite the Right rally. One was granted bond, but the other will remain in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail until he goes to trial.

Richard Wilson Preston, 52, who is charged with discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, was granted bond at $50,000. That after Imperial Wizard Billy Snuffer of the Rebel Brigade Knights was able to post bond and convince the judge that his fellow Klansman would not leave the home Snuffer is providing. Three other friends of Preston attended the hearing and offered their support, as well.

Preston is not allowed to leave the state or possess a gun.

Also in court was Jacob Scott Goodwin, 23, of Arkansas. He is one of three who have been charged in the beating of Deandre Harris inside the Market Street Parking Garage. Defense attorney Elmer Woodard, who also represents both Preston and Chris Cantwell, was unable to convince Judge Humes Franklin that Goodwin would not bring harm to himself or others if released.

Preston’s three-day jury trial is scheduled to begin May 9. Goodwin’s two-day jury trial is scheduled for April 30.

There were two people of interest who attended Thursday’s hearings. Next to Jason Kessler, the man behind Unite the Right, sat Matt Heimbach of the Traditionalist Worker Party, one of the largest groups to attend the rally. Back on August 14, 2017, Heimbach attended the arraignment of James Alex Fields, the Ohio man charged with first degree murder for the death of Heather Heyer. He and another member of the TWP spoke loudly outside the courthouse in defense of Fields, who they say was acting in self-defense when his car ran into a crowd of counterprotesters at 4th and Market Streets. Surrounded first by a large crowd of local and national reporters, then local residents demanding that the two leave, Heimbach grinned and said, “We’ll be back.”

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