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Three Virginia Commonwealth University students and one former student charged with covering their faces while protesting a pro-Confederate rally are facing a maximum of five years in prison under a 1952 law aimed at unmasking the Ku Klux Klan in Virginia.

Three of the four were arraigned Tuesday on one count each of wearing a mask in public to obscure their identity. The fourth is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

Caroline Hill, 24, of McLean, acknowledged after her arraignment that she used a bandana to cover her mouth and chin during a march that snaked through the city’s Fan District on Saturday.

“I was wearing the mask to protect myself from people who I was told were filming and photographing us with the intent of doxxing us,” said the former VCU student, referring to the practice of revealing a person’s identity and contact information online for the purpose of instigating harassment.

She said she participated in counterprotests Saturday to show opposition to the city’s Confederate monuments and “people running around Richmond with Confederate flags intimidating people.”

Ian M. Gerson, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Corissa C. Duffey, 25, of Stockbridge, Ga. — both current VCU students, according to the school — also were arraigned.