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Klansmen charged in 'Unite the Right' shooting freed on bond, second person denied release

A Maryland Klansman has been released on bail while facing charges that he fired a gun at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August.

A judge on Thursday released Richard Preston of Baltimore, later identified as the Imperial Wizard of the Confederate White Knights, until his trial in Charlottesville on May 9.

Preston stands accused of firing a shot that didn’t hit anyone during the rally. Preston has said he was protecting people against someone with a flame thrower.

A second person, Jacob Scott Goodwin, lost his bid for bail. He is one of the people accused of assaulting Deandre Harris in a parking garage after the Unite the Right rally.

Goodwin is facing a charge of malicious wounding and will stand trial on April 30.

The August 12 rally, held in Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia, also resulted in 20-year-old James Alex Fields being arrested after plowing his car into a group of protesters. One person, Heather Heyer, was killed and 19 others were injured.

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