Black man who wielded flamethrower during white nationalist rally in Charlottesville has been arrested

Coorey Long, the black man who wielded an improvised flamethrower against white nationalists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — an incident captured in a photo that went viral — has become the second black to be arrested recently in relation to the rally. Charlottesville police investigators arrested Long, 23, of Culpeper, Virginia on charges of assault and battery and disorderly conduct. Lt. Stephen Upman, a Charlottesville police spokesman, said that the disorderly conduct charge is related to the makeshift flamethrower and the assault and battery charge is related to a separate skirmish during the rally. Long, who was released on an unsecured bond after appearing before a magistrate, declined to comment after his arrest and referred all questions to his attorney, Malik Zulu Shabazz, national president of Black Lawyers for Justice and former national chairman of the New Black Panther Party. Shabazz, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a racist black nationalist, did not comment other than to say that he would be at Long’s court hearing.