Florida League of the South Involved in Arrest, Beating at Charlottesville Rally: UPDATE
UPDATE 8.17.17聽
Jim O鈥橞rien was formerly employed by North American Roofing, where he was hired in
The company announced Tuesday that they had , stating "We do not support the extremist activities that were on display in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend or any other similar activity," it says. "We promote a culture of inclusion and diversity."
appears to show O鈥橞rien, marching with the League of the South, punching a woman repeatedly in the face.
The man dressed in a black polo, black hat聽and sunglasses, can be seen repeatedly striking the victim beginning around :30 seconds. Other footage of the incident shows the woman being pulled into a crowd of LOS members and their Nationalist Front ilk by Kentucky chairman Spencer Borum and thrown to the ground.聽聽
O鈥橞rien is visible in the crowd in this photograph, wearing the same black hat and wraparound sunglasses as in the video.聽
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ORIGINAL STORY 鈥斅燨n August 12, Virginia State Police announced the arrest of three suspects in connection with聽Jason Kessler鈥檚 Unite the Right (UTR) rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Among them was James M. O鈥橞rien of Gainesville, Florida. O鈥橞rien was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed handgun.
UPDATE: O'Brien posted the details surrounding his arrest on Facebook on Monday, August 14:
Here he's explaining in an FB message what happened
鈥� Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo)
O'Brien was聽arrested on the same day聽聽after members of the Neo-Confederate Florida League of the South (FL LOS) were a black man, who attempted to run away, fell, and was savaged once again. Also visible in the video was at least one man carrying a shield with a Vanguard America logo, much like the one carried by James Alex Fields, who allegedly drove his car through a group of counter protestors killing one.
The video of the beating occurs about 26 seconds into the CNN clip below.聽
. on : "At a minimum the President by now should have been able to come out with a tweet"
鈥� CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom)
Social media seems to indicate聽that the same James M. O鈥橞rien is a member of the FL LOS, a militantly racist organization intent on seizing federal equipment from the Florida national guard in its desire to see the states of the Confederacy secede and form a white ethno-state.
A Facebook profile under the name of Jim O鈥橞rien, from Gainesville, Florida matches available records for O鈥橞rien and lists the following occupations: Former Management at U.S. Department of Defense (DoD); Past, Artemis Global Inc. and Tamerlane Global Service, and ties to William and Mary University, Virginia Beach, and Leesburg, Virginia. O鈥橞rien also lists himself as a United States Marine Corps Veteran.
O鈥橞rien鈥檚 Facebook page, made available to Hatewatch, features聽posts about the Charlottesville rally and聽references to militant 鈥淪outhern Nationalism."
O鈥橞rien posted several updates this weekend indicating that he was en route to and present in Charlottesville during the protests.
O鈥橞rien is friends on Facebook with several known League of the South members, including Florida state chairman Michael Tubbs, another veteran who went on to lead the Florida League of the South after he was released from prison for his role in a plot to bomb Jewish and black-owned businesses in Jacksonville, Florida.
Tubbs was photographed in several brawls throughout the day.
Main photo credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
