An Arkansas man charged in the beating of a black man at the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville has been extradited from Lonoke County jail to Virginia. 22-year old Jacob Scott Goodwin of Ward is charged with maliciously wounding DeAndre Harris along with two other men in a parking garage. Harris himself was also charged with assault.
Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley says they’ve been holding Goodwin since October 10th.
“For whatever reason he wanted to fight extradition. That means he was stuck here longer” said Staley. “He was picked up just this morning.”
Video of the beating in Charlottesville appears to show Goodwin wearing a military helmet, wielding a shield as a weapon, and kicking Harris on the ground. Harris suffered a spinal injury and sustained injuries to his head requiring 10 stitches.
Jason Robb, a relative of the Harrison-based Ku Klux Klan head Thomas Robb, is representing Goodwin. They’re contesting charges. White nationalists marching in Tennessee’s White Lives Matter rally earlier this month raised funds for Goodwin’s legal defense.
Goodwin’s mother, Tamera, told the Washington Post it is her son in the video but says her son denies kicking Harris. In the video Goodwin sports two pins, one with the number 88 which is code for Heil Hitler and the other is the logo of the Traditionalist Worker Party.
Goodwin’s had a number of visitors while in Lonoke County jail. An NBC News crew reportedly interviewed him and his mother. Long-time Arkansas Neo-Nazi Billy Roper claims Goodwin recruited two prospective members to his new ShieldWall Network while behind bars. Roper says on his blog he visited with Goodwin twice during his time at the detention center.
Copyright 2017 KUAR
