A Virginia judicial official has issued an arrest warrant for Deandre Harris, age 20, a black man who was beaten by white nationalists during clashes in Charlottesville in August. Harris turned himself in on October 12.

Harris is reportedly accused of attacking one of the men in the group that beat him during the deadly demonstrations on Aug. 12. The United Nations later cited the incident, naming Harris specifically, in a condemnation of racism in the United States following the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville.

According to Harris' attorney, Lee Merritt, a man named Harold Ray Crews filed the charges. Merritt's statement on Tuesday includes Harris' account of the events in question:

Harris and Crews had a brief encounter when Harris observed Crews appearing to spear an associate with the sharpened end of a confederate flag pole. Mr. Harris swung a flashlight in the space between the flag pole and Mr. Crews, failing to make significant contact before the brief scuffle ended. Harris retreated from the encounter when he was pursued by several members of LOS, surrounded and violently beat with blunt objects sustaining several fractures, cranial lacerations and internal bodily injuries. Crews was injured in a completely separate subsequent incident not involving Mr. Harris whatsoever. These facts would have been revealed and charges likely would have not been filed had the Charlottesville Police Department been allowed to follow the normal investigative procedures when an individual makes a criminal complaint.



Merritt also said his client plans to cooperate with authorities.

Harris raised $166,000 on GoFundMe for his medical expenses in the wake of the attacks.



"I was chased and beat with metal poles. I was knocked unconscious repeatedly. Every time I went to stand up I was knocked back down," Harris wrote at the time. "I was diagnosed with a concussion, an ulnar fracture, and had to receive eight staples in my head. I also have a laceration across my right eyebrow, abrasions on my knees & elbows, and a chipped tooth."