CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Charges against Jacob Joseph Dix, the Ohio man accused of using a flaming torch to intimidate counterprotesters during a 2017 gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville, have been dismissed. The dismissal follows a mistrial declared last week after jurors deadlocked on whether to convict Dix under a Virginia law that criminalizes burning objects with the intent to intimidate.
Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor, who served as special prosecutor in the case, had initially indicated plans to retry Dix. However, after further consideration, the charges were formally dropped earlier today in Albemarle County Circuit Court.
Dix was one of 11 individuals indicted last year under the state’s “intimidation by fire” statute, passed in 2002. Five others have pleaded guilty.
This case was the first to go to trial under the statute, which was enacted following the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling that a previous cross-burning law was unconstitutional.
