BREAKING: Jacob Goodwin Guilty!

Goodwin told a jury “I was trying to neutralize a threat,” when he joined in the assault on DeAndre Harris, but today it was that same jury that showed him how neutralizing a threat is done. 

UPDATE 10:15 PM: The jury has recommended 10 years for Goodwin – with the option of a suspended sentence.

Jacob Goodwin, a member of Billy Roper’s neo-Nazi organization Shieldwall, has been convicted of charges stemming from his role in the assault of DeAndre Harris during the so-called “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. on Aug. 12.

According to a CBS News tweet, Goodwin, 23 of Ward, Arkansas, was found guilty of malicious wounding and at press time, the jury is deliberating his sentence.

#BREAKING Jacob Goodwin found guilty of malicious wounding in the August 12th assault of DeAndre Harris in the Market Street Parking Garage. The jury is deliberating about the sentence. We’ve got a reporter on the scene and will have the latest on #CBS19News at 10 and 11.

— CBS19 News (@CBS19News) May 2, 2018

Goodwin was one of three participants in the “Unite the Right” rally that were arrested in the Harris case, who became a symbol of the violence that the assembled White supremacists instigated, along with the death of 34-year-old Heather Heyer, who was struck and killed by a car allegedly driven by another attendee, James Fields of Ohio, who is still awaiting trial. Tyler Watkins Davis 49, of Florida, Daniel P. Borden, 18, of Ohio and Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Georgia are still awaiting trial for their part in the Harris attack.

In October, Harris himself was charged with unlawful wounding based on a complaint by White supremacist attorney Harold Ray Crews, who alleged Harris hit him with a flashlight just before the attack on him in a garage on Market St. Harris, who suffered a spinal injury and a head laceration that required 10 stitches, was acquitted of those charges in March.

Goodwin took the stand during his trial and said he was merely acting in self defense, telling the jury he saw Harris assault Crews and then saw Harris charging toward him. “I thought he was a hostile…to be honest, I was terrified,” Goodwin said, adding that, “I’d probably perish or be sent to the hospital and be terribly hurt.” His only option, he said, was to kick Harris four times while Harris was falling down on the garage floor and scrambling to get back up multiple times.

Goodwin was the subject of a documentary that followed his parents as they worked with Shieldwall to help their son, seemingly becoming more radicalized in the process. Billy Roper has claimed he had a 25-year relationship with David Simon Holloway, who co-produced the documentary for NBC Left Field.

According to Chris Quimby who was posting on Gab on behalf of Billy Roper, both the judge and prosecutor are recommending 20 years without parole for Goodwin.