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According to Independent Mr Long said:

At first it was peaceful protest. Until someone pointed a gun at my head. Then the same person pointed it at my foot and shot the ground.

...

Another extremist later lunged at Mr Long with a confederate flag and he fought back with a spray can he said he found on the ground, putting a lighter to the nozzle and turning it into a weapon

enter image description here
Image posted under fair use.

Is this reconstruction truthful or consistent with the known facts of the matter?

Note: This question was created because of the discussion here.

Maria check profile
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  • I've removed all interpretation requests from the question and limited to the facts, then reopened. – Sklivvz Aug 20 '17 at 10:08
  • @Sklivvz I find it quite strange that it turned from _"was he using this in response to violence"_ into _"did someone aim at him and shoot the ground"_. The answer to the second question is "Yes"... and it creates a less negative (if not positive) image of the suspect. If questioning motives is what you tried to avoid, you could (and should) have used something like "Was Long fighting back an attacking protester" which is the exact quote from the suspect. – Maria check profile Sep 02 '17 at 08:03
  • I paraphrased the first cite almost to the word. – Sklivvz Sep 02 '17 at 08:12
  • @Sklivvz Why not paraphrase the second one, which shows a clearer picture of what happened? Wouldn't that be the best way to avoid our subjective interpretation of the events? – Maria check profile Sep 02 '17 at 08:13
  • The only subjectivity is in motivations ("was X in response to Y"). Both the question and the answer only refer to the order of events, which does show the quote is misleading, as mr. Long started spraying before the other events. I am not sure what you find problematic, as either quote is in the question body anyways. – Sklivvz Sep 02 '17 at 08:20
  • @Sklivvz So, there would be no problem if i change the title to _"Did Long use the spray+lighter after getting a gun pointed at him?"_ or _".. after getting attacked by a flag wielding protester"_. Correct? – Maria check profile Sep 02 '17 at 08:25
  • It does not matter as long as it's something in thr quotations. – Sklivvz Sep 02 '17 at 11:26

1 Answers1

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As seen in the linked video, released by the ACLU of Virginia, the order of events was:

First Corey Long directs paint spray toward a group of protestors carrying confederate flags, who are on the stairs. The protestor (Scott Woods) furthest down the stairs briefly covers his mouth with his shirt to avoid inhaling the spray.

[These stairs are the south-west exit from Emancipation Park, formerly Lee Park, onto Market Street]

Next Corey Long ignites the spray.

Then Scott Woods waves the flag pole at the flame.

Then a third person in the street points a handgun in the general direction of Long and fires, at the ground according the New York Times article linked above.

enter image description here

Richard Wilson Preston has been arrested for allegedly discharging a firearm within 1000 feet of a school in connection with the shooting. (seeVirginia § 18.2-280) Additional information about Preston was reported by the Baltimore Sun.

At a 12 October 2017 hearing, Judge Robert H. Downer denied Preston bond and said:

I think firing a firearm under those circumstances is not justified ... It may justify pulling a pistol out — and maybe when I see the video I may change my mind — but a bullet goes somewhere, and this was in a park where there were lots of people.

Update 16 October 2017:

Corey Alexander Long (the man with the flamethrower) has been charged with assault and with disorderly conduct in connection with the incident according to Charlottesville District Court records and news reports .

Update 14 June 2018:

Richard Wilson Preston pleaded "no contest" to the charges and will be sentenced 21 August 2018. In a second video of the incident shown in court, Preston said to the flamethrower man, "Go ahead, I'll shoot you. Go ahead.", according to NBC News.

Corey Alexander Long was found guilty of disorderly conduct, but charges of assault were not prosecuted. Long was sentenced to 360 days, all but 20 days of which were suspended.

DavePhD
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    The "Confederate White Knights" are the "Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan", right? It's a bit difficult to believe that they were not originally racist. The timeline is also not so clear to me. The group became racist in the 60s, but Peston was a member in 2013, even though he disagrees with it? – tim Aug 28 '17 at 17:20
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    @tim Yes, it is the KKK. As far as I know it's always been racist. It's strange that the Baltimore Sun says that without clarifying or fact checking. This is what the Baltimore Sun said in 2013 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/belair/ph-ag-cecil-confederate-meeting-1220-20131219-story.html – DavePhD Aug 28 '17 at 17:42
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    Recommend including that Preston attempted to shoot more towards Long; indications are just after the racist epithet, combining the stance, deflection of the finger, and audible click. Preston then steps back, cycles the slide, and re-engages with a lower point of aim. – Drunk Cynic Sep 01 '17 at 19:06
  • @DrunkCynic Long and the New York Times say that Preston shot at the ground. – DavePhD Sep 01 '17 at 19:12
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    The shot that was successfully fired was aimed towards the ground; look at the video 6 seconds earlier, examining the actions and posture of Preston. In the first attempt, he assumes a higher point of aim, but is defeated by a gun malfunction. – Drunk Cynic Sep 01 '17 at 19:23
  • @DrunkCynic I don't know enough about that type of gun to say. – DavePhD Sep 01 '17 at 19:30
  • I expect it was either a light strike or bad ammo. 16-17: takes his stance and fires - you can hear the click. 18-20: perform clearance of the firearm, and we can see the bad round ejected 19-20. 20-21: retakes stance, and fires towards ground. Reference on malfunction clearance for semi-automatics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRHkhBcwVeg – Drunk Cynic Sep 01 '17 at 20:49
  • @DrunkCynic I doubt the prosecutor was so naive as to not check what you are claiming. I doubt you can even filter that broad frequency background, but you can prove me wrong. Can you upload a filtered version of the audio then? – Maria check profile Sep 03 '17 at 05:00
  • @MariaBl. Regrettably, while I have a strong acoustic set up, video editing isn't in my skill set. – Drunk Cynic Sep 03 '17 at 18:35
  • @DrunkCynic Ah I see :( – Maria check profile Sep 03 '17 at 19:02
  • @SIMEL DrunkCynic can't post a vid with the noise filtered out, because of his editing skills. Could you perhaps do that? I'd love to see some evidence. – Maria check profile Sep 03 '17 at 19:04
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    @I don't have any aditing skills, but I hear the sound without any filtering. I can't say that it's necceseraly the sound of the guns mechanism. More over, even if it is, it doesn't prove that he tried to shot to hit (Maybe he knew his gun is unloaded and thought that that would scare the guy). In any case it's irrelevant to the question, it's obvious that the weapon was drawn and discharged **after** the spray can was set on fire. – SIMEL Sep 03 '17 at 19:09
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    @SIMEL _"I hear the sound without any filtering"_ - No offense, but I highly doubt this. The background noise is waaaaaay to high. – Maria check profile Sep 04 '17 at 05:04
  • @MariaBl. Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axB-7LXGTPY – Drunk Cynic Sep 04 '17 at 07:57
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    I am not happy with the first paragraph. What you describe is the sequence of events *in the video*, but the formulation of the paragraph makes it look as if that was "the" chain of events. As the video starts, there is already confrontation (and spraying) going on, so we don't know how it actually developed to that point. – DevSolar Sep 04 '17 at 12:58
  • @DevSolar The stairs the protesters are descending, into the crowd of counter-protesters, are at the South-West corner of Emancipation Park, near the intersection of 1st ST N and Market street. This appears to be at the point where the Protest has been canceled due to the overall level of violence, and the protesters have been told to leave. With the objects being thrown into the center of the frame from the counter protesters, the protesters seem mostly reactive at this point. – Drunk Cynic Sep 04 '17 at 16:30
  • @DrunkCynic Regarding the vid: [you have to be joking :P](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvK1F-Thrzk) – Maria check profile Sep 05 '17 at 06:02
  • @dsollen the Virginia law about shooting within 1000 feet of the school says "This section shall not apply to ... person whose said willful act is otherwise justifiable or excusable at law in the protection of his life or property, or is otherwise specifically authorized by law." So Preston might avoid conviction on that basis. But if he is convicted, there is a 2 year minimum sentence, because it is a class 4 felony. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter7/section18.2-280/ – DavePhD Sep 07 '17 at 17:15
  • @DevSolar there was some discussion of preceding events in court yesterday (10/12/17). Apparently Preston was threatened by a counter-protestor brandishing what the judge called a "nail-laden stick" shown in a still-photograph. Then Preston drew his gun (at first time) to protect himself. The was also testimony from Scott Woods (the man at which the flame was directed). http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/preston-tells-court-he-fired-in-self-defense-on-aug/article_4b6f1dec-afb1-11e7-a451-d350e4a1a002.html – DavePhD Oct 13 '17 at 15:33
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    @dsollen Corey Long's associate Deandre Harris has now been arrested, but Long has not be charged with anything. Basically, those two were in a group of people who were carrying clubs and stealing and burning Confederate flags (look at online videos), and Harris allegedly struck someone with a pole/stick which started a big fight at an entrance to a parking garage. – DavePhD Oct 13 '17 at 15:52
  • @dsollen now Corey Long has been charged. I updated the answer. – DavePhD Oct 18 '17 at 12:58
  • @SIMEL If by "unloaded", you mean something like "was loaded with blanks", that is not standard use of "unloaded". – Acccumulation Apr 05 '18 at 21:50