CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A white Arkansas man charged in the beating of a black man during a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., has been found guilty of malicious wounding.
News outlets reported that 23-year-old Jacob Scott Goodwin was found guilty Tuesday for the August attack on 20-year-old DeAndre Harris.
The jury recommended a sentence of 10 years, with the option of suspending some time and a $20,000 fine.
Harris suffered a spinal injury, a broken arm and head lacerations that required eight staples after the parking garage assault. Three others were arrested.
Goodwin claimed self-defense. However, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Nina-Alice Antony said it was Goodwin who wanted to square off.
The rally was held to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a city park.
Goodwin was arrested in October at a residence outside Austin in rural Lonoke County after being identified as one of several men seen on video beating Harris in a parking garage during the August rally.
An NBC News documentary titled Path to Radicalization, released last month, featured Goodwin's family. In it, Goodwin speaks by jail phone in a jumpsuit and calls himself an advocate for "white civil rights” through his affiliation with the Arkansas ShieldWall Network.
“I went to Charlottesville to protest politicians trying to buy into that fad that we’re progressive and we want to remove this racist history,” Goodwin said, adding his wishes to “kindle the flame of our ancestors and rise above.”
Goodwin's parents spoke to him from behind glass as an NBC News crew filmed their interaction. From the kitchen table of their home, both defended their son and asserted that they don't necessarily agree with all of his viewpoints.
Goodwin’s mother, Tamera, told an NBC filmmaker that her son is “just a political prisoner, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Arkansas Online reporter Brandon Riddle contributed to this report.