We never been critical of Daryl Davis’ efforts to reform Klan members, but this time they stunk of a foul publicity stunt and we are glad it didn’t end up getting Dick Preston a pass on him popping off rounds in Charlottesville.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – When Richard Preston visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture a few weeks ago, he wore a Confederate flag bandanna as he visited the casket of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old murdered in 1955 in Mississippi for whistling at a White woman. Later he would make a joke about the shot he fired at a Black man while calling him the N-word during the “Unite the Right” rally just one year ago. “How do you get one black man’s attention in a crowd full of black people?” he asked.

Today, there was no joking around, and in fact Preston cried as a judge sentenced him to 4 years behind bars for discharging a firearm within 1,000 ft of a school on that day. The actual sentence is eight years, with half suspended.

In May, Preston, 53, pled no contest to the charge that when he had seen counter-protester Corey Long light an aerosol spray can as rallying white supremacists exited what is now Market Street Park, he fired a pistol at him while shouting, “Hey, nigger!” According to prosecutors, the projectile hit the dirt near Long’s feet but did not injure him. On Monday, Long appealed his misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction related to the use of an improvised flamethrower and will appear in court on Jan. 24.

Preston is the Imperial Wizard of the Rosedale (Baltimore County), Maryland-based Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and was a prominent face in the media representing the organization. In 2014, Preston led a handful of Klansmen to the Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania attempting to hold a clandestine rally to support a fellow Klansman who was kicked out of the local Town Watch when his activities were discovered, only to be routed when a tip alerted residents and antifa who were able to mobilize against them when they arrived in front of the Tacony Public Library.

According to CNN, Daryl Davis, an R&B musician and actor who has made a name for himself by befriending Klan members in an sometimes successful effort to get them to renounce their ways paid some of Preston’s bail money and suggested to the judge that visiting the African American History Museum could be some form of mitigation, which prompted the visit to a museum so popular that normally in order to enter, you have to request timed passes months in advance.

Davis, was the only witness called by the defense today, and he took the stand for approximately five minutes to say they had a nice time at the museum. He also noted that he walked Preston’s bride down the aisle earlier this year, and that they plan to visit the Holocaust Museum and the Museum of the American Indian.

But According to Tweets by @socialistdogmom,  Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania noting that this was “the first felony sentencing event” related to the events of August 12, 2017 with Jacob Goodwin and Alex Ramos face felony sentencing on Thursday from their convictions stemming from their participation in the assault on counterprotester DeAndre Harris, pointed out the threat that Preston posed that day.

platania: firing a gun in that environment, “it’s tough to describe how poorly that could’ve gone,” what if someone had stepped out in front of him? what if it had ricocheted?

— molly 🐶 (@socialistdogmom) August 22, 2018

Preston was remanded to custody after the hearing and is now in Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail.