V I R G I N I A:

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

WILLIAM N. EVANS, )
Petitioner )
v. ) Case No. ___________
)
CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE )
Defendant/Respondent )

and

WILLIAM N. EVANS )
Petitioner/Intervenor )
v. ) Case No. ____________
)
JOSEPH D. PLATANIA, )
COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY )
FOR THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE )
Defendant/Respondent )

AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM N. EVANS

I, WILLIAM N. EVANS (“Evans”), certify that the facts below are true and accurate, to

the best of my knowledge.

1. Evans is a citizen of the United States and resides in Fairfax County, Virginia. As a citizen

of the United States and of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Evans is entitled to certain rights

under the First Amendment, the Virginia Constitution, the Virginia Code, and the Virginia

Freedom of Information Act (“VFOIA”), §§ 2.2-3700 et seq.

2. Evans, an independent journalist, runs a YouTube channel under the pseudonym

‘SonofNewo’. The channel offers Evans’s reporting, opinion and analysis of current events

in the news.1

1
See <https://www.youtube.com/user/SonofNewo>.

1
3. Evans’s YouTube videos on the August 12, 2017 car attack in Charlottesville have,

collectively, garnered over 600,000 views. His most-viewed video on the August 12

incident, entitled “Analyzing Charlottesville’s Zapruder Film: the Ford Fischer LiveStream”,

has garnered over 300,000 views alone.2

4. Evans has no association with, and does not support or endorse the views of, any of the

individuals, groups, or entities that were marching, demonstrating, protesting, or otherwise

present in downtown Charlottesville on August 12, 2017.

5. First Respondent, the CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE (“The City”), is an independent city

in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The City qualifies as a “public body” under VFOIA.

6. Second Respondent, JOSEPH D. PLATANIA (“Platania”), is the elected Commonwealth’s

Attorney for the City of Charlottesville. He is named in his official capacity. As a

constitutional officer of the State of Virginia, Platania qualifies as a “public body” under

VFOIA § 2.2-3701.3

The James Alex Fields Preliminary Hearing on December 14, 2017

7. James Alex Fields (“Fields”) has been charged with murder and several other felonies

stemming from an incident on August 12, 2017, in which he allegedly rammed his car into a

crowd of people in downtown Charlottesville, at the intersection of 4th Street and Water

Street (“the August 12 incident”).4

2
Analyzing Charlottesville’s Zapruder Film: the Ford Fischer Livestream, uploaded to YouTube Aug.
24, 2017, available online at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePsK0dpyu4g>.
3
“For the purposes of the provisions of this chapter applicable to access to public records,
constitutional officers . . . shall be considered public bodies and, except as otherwise expressly
provided by law, shall have the same obligations to disclose public records as other custodians of
public records.” VFOIA § 2.2-3701.
4
The charges against Fields are currently before this circuit court and are numbered CR17000296-01
to CR17000296-10. The Fields cases before the Charlottesville General District Court were
numbered GC17006032 to GC17006035, GC17006211 to GC17006215, and GT17006036.

2
8. On December 14, 2017, a preliminary hearing occurred in the Fields criminal case, before

Judge Robert H. Downer of the Charlottesville General District Court.5

9. Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of

Charlottesville, Nina-Alice Antony (“Antony”), appeared before the Charlottesville General

District Court for this hearing.

10. Fields’s attorney at that hearing was Denise Lunsford (“Lunsford”), who served as

Commonwealth’s Attorney for Albermarle County from 2007 until 2015. She is currently in

private practice.

11. On information and belief, prior to the preliminary hearing, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s

office and the City, through its agents and/or representatives and/or employees, discussed

what evidence would be presented at the hearing.

12. During the preliminary hearing, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony, acting in her

official capacity, played two videos of the August 12 incident in open court (“two videos” or

“videos”). One of the videos was filmed from a Virginia State Police helicopter that hovered

above the scene. The other was surveillance video from a camera posted outside the Red

Pump Kitchen, a restaurant located at the corner of 4th Street and Main Street in downtown

Charlottesville, one block north of where the August 12 incident took place.

13. On information and belief, these two videos had not previously been shown to the public.

14. In the gallery watching the proceedings and the videos that day were national media

correspondents from the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and the Associated

Press (“the media”), as well as avowed white nationalist Jason Kessler (“Kessler”).

5
Although the hearing was before Judge Robert H. Downer of the Charlottesville General District
Court, it was held in a courtroom within the Charlottesville Circuit Court building.

3
15. Kessler is currently, and was at the time of the Fields preliminary hearing on December 14,

2017, facing perjury charges in Albermarle County for allegedly giving false statements to a

magistrate judge in an unrelated case. He is scheduled to be tried in March 2018.6

16. The contents of the two videos were widely reported on by the media and by Kessler in the

day following the hearing.7

17. In a January 5, 2018 phone call, Platania and Antony told Evans the following about the

December 14, 2017 preliminary hearing:

a. Prior to the hearing, neither the Commonwealth’s Attorney nor the court provided

advance notice to the public that the two videos would be played or introduced into

evidence (except ten minutes prior to the hearing, when the Commonwealth’s

Attorney spoke to some of the victims to warn them about disturbing images

contained in the videos).

b. Prior to the hearing, neither the Commonwealth’s Attorney nor the court provided

advance notice to the public that a motion “to withdraw all exhibits” or other motion

to close the record would be issued or granted that day.

c. During the playing of two videos at the preliminary hearing on December 14, the in-

court screens were turned towards the gallery so that all present could see.

6
Kessler’s perjury case before the Albermarle County Circuit Court is numbered CR17000673-00.
7
See Hawes Spencer and Richard Perez-Pena, Murder Charge Increases in Charlottesville Protest
Death, N.Y. Times, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(a)]; Kaylee Hartung and Darran Simon, Charge
upgraded against suspect in Charlottesville rally killing, CNN, Dec. 15, 2017 [Attachment 4(b)];
Paul Duggan, Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming Charlottesville
crowd, Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(c)]; Sarah Rankin, Suspect in Virginia car
attack faces upgraded charge, Associated Press, Dec. 15, 2017 [Attachment 4(d)]; Jason Kessler
(Twitter @TheMadDimension), “JAMES FIELDS IS INNOCENT”, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(e)
(twitter page) and Attachment 6 (video file)], available online at
<https://twitter.com/themaddimension/status/941453577981218816> and
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yotV_RcpzY> .

4
 d. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony confirmed that she was aware that

media were in the courtroom and watching during the playing of the videos.

e. Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania confirmed that the two videos were introduced

into evidence, and that Judge Downer relied upon the videos as evidence when he

certified James Fields’s case up to the Circuit Court.

f. According to Platania, the two videos were withdrawn from Fields’s case file, without

objection from the defense, through a motion “to withdraw all exhibits” that was

granted by the court.

g. According to Platania and Antony, this motion “to withdraw all exhibits” was issued

orally by Antony, consented to by Fields’s defense, and granted orally by the judge,

such that neither the motion nor the order granting the motion are contained in the

Fields case file.

h. Antony confirmed that no gag order, or other order restraining the media from

reporting on the contents of the two videos, was pursued by the Commonwealth, and

none were issued by the court before, on or after Dec. 14 regarding the two videos.

i. Antony confirmed that she is aware that the media has reported on the contents of the

two videos that were shown in court.

18. On January 18, 2018, Evans obtained a transcript of Fields’s December 14 preliminary

hearing from Lanes Court Reporters.8 A review of this transcript reveals that:

a. Both videos were entered into evidence and given exhibit numbers. The helicopter

video was entered as “PH Number 4”,9 the Red Pump Kitchen video was entered as

“PH Number 5”.10

8
See Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. (Dec. 14, 2017) [Attachment 1].

5
 b. Six other records were also entered into evidence and published at the preliminary

hearing:

i. The autopsy report of the deceased victim of the August 12 incident, Heather

Heyer, entered as PH Number 1;11

ii. Four Photographs of Fields’s Dodge Challenger that were taken after his

arrest, entered as PH Numbers 2(a) – 2(d);12 and

iii. A chart summarizing the injuries incurred by victims of the August 12

incident, entered as PH Number 3.13

c. The two videos were played in open court, viewed by those present in the courtroom

gallery, and elaborated upon by the State’s witness, Detective Steven Young of the

Charlottesville Police Department.

d. Fields’s defense attorney, Lunsford, did not object to the admission of the videos on

Sixth Amendment or any other grounds, and in fact consented to their admission into

evidence.

e. At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, Judge Downer certified Fields’s charges

to the grand jury while the videos remained in evidence, thereby relying on the videos

to so certify.14

9
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 22:15-22:22 (Dec. 14, 2017)
10
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 28:12-28:19 (Dec. 14, 2017).
11
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 15:12-15:20 (Dec. 14, 2017).
12
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 10:1-10:6 (Dec. 14, 2017).
13
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 17:10-17:19 (Dec. 14, 2017).
14
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 45:23-46:2 (Dec. 14, 2017).

6
 f. Judge Downer concluded the preliminary hearing while the videos remained in

evidence, saying: “This hearing is concluded.”15

g. After the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, and while people in the gallery were

getting up and leaving the courtroom,16 Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony

made the following request of the court:

“Before Mr. Fields leaves the courtroom, the Commonwealth, by

agreement, will make a motion to seal the warrants as they come up to
Circuit Court and then (unintelligible) and seal for the purposes of the
public, except for the Court, Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as well
the defense.”17

h. The “(unintelligible)” in Antony’s request is as written in the transcript produced by

Lanes Court Reporters.

i. This unintelligible request, whatever it was, was (apparently) consented to by

Lunsford and granted by Judge Downer.18

j. In the transcribed record of the hearing, no advance notice was given to the public

that this unintelligible request, whatever it was, would be made.

k. In the transcribed record of the hearing, no opportunity was provided for the public to

object to this unintelligible request, whatever it was, before the court granted it.

l. In the transcribed record of the hearing, the court provided no rationale or explanation

for its decision to grant this unintelligible request, whatever it was, before or after

granting the request.

15
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 46:8 (Dec. 14, 2017).
16
Both Judge Downer and Antony refer to people leaving the courtroom before Antony issues the
unintelligible request. See Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 45:13-45:17, 46:5-46:8 (Dec. 14, 2017).
17
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 46:9-46:14 (Dec. 14, 2017).
18
Fields Prelim. Hr’g Tr. 46:15-46:17 (Dec. 14, 2017).

7
19. On January 18, 2018, after reviewing the transcript of Fields’s preliminary hearing provided

by Lanes Court Reporters, Evans telephoned Deborah Lawrence (“Lawrence”), president of

Lanes Court Reporters, to ask about the “(unintelligible)” part of Antony’s request.19

a. Specifically, Evans asked Lawrence what Antony had said during the portion labeled

“(unintelligible)” on page 46 of the transcript.

b. Lawrence responded that she had listened to it herself multiple times, and had asked

other Lanes employees to listen to it as well, and that they simply could not make out

what Antony said.

c. As explanation, Lawrence said that Antony is a soft speaker and is sometimes hard to

hear in the courtroom.

20. Lawrence reiterated this in a follow-up call to Evans the following day, January 19, 2018.

She said that she and others at Lanes Court Reporters had listened to the portion labeled

“(unintelligible)” and could not make out what Antony had said.

21. Other than Antony’s unintelligible request, no other portion of the Fields preliminary hearing

transcript provided by Lanes Court Reporters is labeled “(unintelligible)”.

22. Besides Antony’s unintelligible request, no other portion of the Fields preliminary hearing

transcript provided by Lanes Court Reporters shows the Commonwealth’s Attorney issuing a

motion “to withdraw all exhibits”, or otherwise asking the court to seal the record.

19
When Evans picked up the transcript from the Lanes Court Reporters’ offices in Charlottesville,
Lawrence told Evans that she had transcribed Fields’s preliminary hearing herself.

8
Evans’s VFOIA Requests to the City of Charlottesville

23. On December 15, 2017, Evans sent his first VFOIA request to the City, asking to “inspect or

obtain copies” of the two videos that were played in court and reported on by the media and

by Kessler.20

24. The City did not respond “within five working days”, as is required by VFOIA.21

25. After receiving no response to his first request, Evans sent a second VFOIA request to the

City on December 26, 2017, again asking to “inspect or receive copies” of the two videos

that were shown in court. In this second request, Evans outlined certain issues with the

media and Kessler’s reporting on the two videos that can only be cured by a broader release

of the videos.22

26. On December 27, 2017, the City, acting through Lieutenant Cheryl Sandridge of the

Charlottesville Police Department (“Sandridge”), attempted to invoke the seven-day

extension period provided by VFOIA § 2.2-3704(B)(4), but did not explain why it was “not

practically possible” to respond within five working days, or “specify the conditions that

make a response impossible” within five working days, as VFOIA § 2.2-3704(B)(4)

requires.23

27. The City finally responded to Evans’s VFOIA requests by email on January 2, 2018.

Sandridge, acting in her official capacity, said “The records that you request are Criminal

20
See Letter from William N. Evans, Petitioner, to Miriam Dickler, Director of Communications for the
City of Charlottesville (Dec. 15, 2017) [Attachment 2(a)].
21
“Any public body that is subject to this chapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall
promptly, but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide the requested
records to the requester or make one of the following responses in writing . . .” VA Code § 2.2-
3704(B).
22
See Second Letter from William N. Evans, Petitioner, to Miriam Dickler, Director of
Communications for the City of Charlottesville (Dec. 26, 2017) [Attachment 2(b)].
23
See Email from Lieutenant Cheryl Sandridge to William N. Evans (Dec. 27, 2017) [Attachment 2(c)].

9
 investigative files, pursuant to Code of Virginia section 2.2-3706(A)(2)(a), are excluded from

the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. They will not be provided.”24

28. In the City’s January 2 response to Evans, Sandridge added as explanation that “While it [sic]

true that the video’s [sic] requested were played in open court, the Court granted at the end of

the preliminary hearing a motion by the Commonwealth to withdraw all exhibits. No

exhibits including the videos requested remain publically [sic] available.”25

29. In response to follow-up questions from Evans on the City’s denial of his VFOIA requests,

then-City Director of Communications, Miriam Dickler, told Evans on January 3, 2018, that

“I am directing this request to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.”26

30. During Evans’s January 5, 2018 phone conversation with Commonwealth’s Attorney

Platania and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony, both Platania and Antony were

familiar with Evans’s VFOIA requests of the City and were also familiar with the City’s

responses to Evans.

31. On information and belief, in planning the City’s response to Evans’s VFOIA requests, there

was communication and coordination between (1) the City, through their agents and/or

representatives, and (2) Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania and/or Assistant

Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony, and/or other representatives of the Commonwealth’s

Attorney’s Office for the City of Charlottesville.

32. On information and belief, this communication and coordination related to the events at the

James Alex Fields preliminary hearing and, in particular, to the motion “to withdraw all

24
See Second Email from Lieutenant Cheryl Sandridge to William N. Evans (Jan. 2, 2018) [Attachment
2(d)].
25
See id.
26
See Email from Miriam Dickler, Director of Communications for the City of Charlottesville, to
William N. Evans (Jan. 3, 2018) [Attachment 2(e)].

10
 exhibits” allegedly made by the Commonwealth’s Attorney at the conclusion of that hearing

that was referenced by Sandridge in the City’s response.

Evans’s VFOIA Requests to the Commonwealth’s Attorney

33. On January 5, 2018, Evans called the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office to discuss the

City’s denial of his VFOIA requests. He understood from then-City Director of

Communications Miriam Dickler’s January 3, 2018 email that the Commonwealth’s

Attorney had been consulted by the City as it was formulating its response.

34. In this January 5, 2018 phone conversation, Evans spoke via speakerphone to both

Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony about

(1) the condition of the record of the Fields case; (2) the alleged motion “to withdraw all

exhibits” allegedly made by the Commonwealth’s Attorney at Fields’s preliminary hearing;

and (3) Evans’s VFOIA requests of the City.

35. During the January 5, 2018 phone conversation, both Platania and Antony were fully

conversant and familiar with all three topics.

36. In the January 5, 2018 phone conversation, Evans asked Platania and Antony to give him

access to the two videos that were shown at Fields’s preliminary hearing.

37. This request, although made over the telephone, qualifies as a formal request under VFOIA.27

38. In the January 5, 2018 phone conversation, Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania responded to

Evans’s VFOIA request by affirmatively declining to give Evans access to the two videos.

27
“You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not
require that your request be in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are requesting
records under FOIA.” City of Charlottesville, “Submit a FOIA Request: Making a request for records
from the City of Charlottesville”, available online at <http://www.charlottesville.org/i-want-
to/submit-a-foia-request>.

11
39. On January 18, 2018, Evans sent a second VFOIA request, this time in writing, to

Commonwealth’s Attorney Platania and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony. This

second request was substantively identical to the two requests issued to the City on

December 15 and December 26, 2017, respectively, and asked “to inspect or receive copies”

of the two videos that were played at Fields’s preliminary hearing on December 14, 2017.28

40. On January 24, 2018, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Antony responded to Evans’s

second VFOIA request. Citing the same provision as the City – VFOIA § 2.2-3706(A)(2)(a)

– she said that the Commonwealth’s attorney was, “in its discretion,” choosing not to

disclose the videos.29

The Condition of the Fields Case Record

41. In a January 5 telephone conversation, Evans asked the clerk of the Charlottesville General

District Court about the status of the Fields case file. He was told that the General District

Court no longer had any file because the case had been certified to this Circuit Court.

42. On January 16, 2018, Evans visited the Charlottesville General District Court clerk’s office

and confirmed that they had nothing on the Fields case in their records room.

43. In a January 5, 2018 telephone conversation, Evans asked the clerk’s office of this Circuit

Court about the status of the Fields case file, and specifically asked whether this Circuit

Court has the two videos that were played at Fields’s preliminary hearing in its case file. A

female employee in the clerk’s office, who said that she was communicating with the clerk of

this Circuit Court, Llezelle Dugger, during the call, affirmatively told Evans that this Circuit

28
See Letter from William N. Evans, Petitioner, to Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph D. Platania and
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony (Jan. 18, 2018) [Attachment 3(a)].
29
See Letter from Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony to William N. Evans (Jan.
24, 2018) [Attachment 3(b)].

12
 Court does not have the two videos in its case file because no videos were in the file that was

delivered to this Circuit Court from the General District Court.

44. On January 16, 2018, Evans visited the Charlottesville Circuit Court Clerk’s office and

reviewed the Fields case file in the records room. He confirmed that the open portion of the

Fields case file does not contain:

a. the videos shown at the preliminary hearing; nor

b. any indication that the videos were even played at the preliminary hearing; nor

c. any record of the oral motion “to withdraw all exhibits” allegedly filed by the

Commonwealth’s Attorney at the preliminary hearing, or any record of any other

motion to seal; nor

d. any record of Judge Downer’s order supposedly granting the motion “to withdraw all

exhibits” at the preliminary hearing, or any record of any other order granting a

motion to seal; nor

e. the other records filed and published as evidence at Fields’s preliminary hearing.30

The Media Reports Describing the Videos Shown at the Preliminary Hearing

45. On the evening of December 14, 2017, reporters from CNN, the Washington Post, the New

York Times, and the Associated Press filed stories on what transpired at Fields’s preliminary

hearing.

46. Each of the four stories describes the contents of the two videos shown in court of the August

12 incident.31

30
See supra ¶ 18(b) for the other items introduced into evidence at Fields’s preliminary hearing.
31
See Hawes Spencer and Richard Perez-Pena, Murder Charge Increases in Charlottesville Protest
Death, N.Y. Times, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(a)]; Kaylee Hartung and Darran Simon, Charge

13
47. Also on the evening of December 14, Kessler published a video on his Twitter account and

on his YouTube Channel in which he provided his description and interpretation of the video

filmed from the helicopter of the August 12 incident.32

48. The December 14 stories filed by CNN, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press

describe Fields’s Dodge Challenger, as (apparently) shown in the two videos, arriving in the

vicinity of the counter-protesters at the intersection of 4th Street and Water Street in

downtown Charlottesville, pausing, reversing north up 4th Street, and then accelerating

towards the protesters prior to the collision.

a. CNN: “The Dodge Challenger crept up, reversed, then accelerated toward the

crowd.”33

b. Washington Post: “Fields’s Dodge approached the Camry from behind at a moderate

speed. It then backed up, traveling more than a block, before accelerating forward at a

rapid clip, ramming into the back of the Camry.”34

c. Associated Press: “[T]he car head[ed] slowly in what Young testified was the

direction of the counterprotesters, who were not in view of the camera. The car

reversed before speeding forward into the frame again.”35

upgraded against suspect in Charlottesville rally killing, CNN, Dec. 15, 2017 [Attachment 4(b)];
Paul Duggan, Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming Charlottesville
crowd, Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(c)]; Sarah Rankin, Suspect in Virginia car
attack faces upgraded charge, Associated Press, Dec. 15, 2017 [Attachment 4(d)].
32
See Jason Kessler (Twitter @TheMadDimension, Youtube: Jason Kessler), “JAMES FIELDS IS
INNOCENT”, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(e) (twitter page) and Attachment 6 (video file)],
available online at <https://twitter.com/themaddimension/status/941453577981218816> and
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yotV_RcpzY> .
33
Kaylee Hartung and Darran Simon, Charge upgraded against suspect in Charlottesville rally killing,
CNN, Dec. 15, 2017 [Attachment 4(b)].
34
Paul Duggan, Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming Charlottesville
crowd, Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(c)].

14
49. Prior to the publication of the December 14 stories filed by CNN, the Washington Post, and

the Associated Press, there was little public evidence of Fields’s Dodge Challenger arriving

in the vicinity of the crowd, stopping, and reversing up 4th Street before accelerating towards

the protesters. Indeed, in the days after the August 12 incident, eyewitnesses told the media

and the public that the Dodge drove straight into the crowd, without stopping or reversing up

4th Street beforehand.

50. One such eyewitness was Brennan Gilmore, who witnessed the August 12 incident from the

vicinity of 4th Street and Main Street, one block north of where the counter-protesters had

assembled. Gilmore has given numerous national media interviews, attended conferences,

and written articles about what he witnessed that day.

51. For example, Gilmore described what he saw to MSNBC on August 13, 2017, the day after

the car attack:

“I was filming, actually, a peaceful, nonviolent march of anti-racist protesters

who were coming up a very narrow street. I was in the middle of the street
myself filming them, and heard from behind me the acceleration of a vehicle.
[I] spun around, and saw the vehicle in question barreling down a very narrow
street with no traffic on it at a high rate of speed, clearly intent on doing
damage and destruction to the crowd, passed over a barrier and went down the
street, and accelerated hard as it barreled into the crowd, sending bodies
flying.”36

52. On August 23, 2017, Gilmore repeated the same story on PBS NewsHour:

“Not long after [the state of emergency was declared], I found myself on a side
street – 4th Street in Charlottesville – with a couple of friends, and I witnessed
a crowd of counter-protesters, of anti-racist protesters, coming up 4th Street,

35
Sarah Rankin, Suspect in Virginia car attack faces upgraded charge, Associated Press, Dec. 15, 2017
[Attachment 4(d)].
36
Brennan Gilmore, Interview with Alex Witt of MSNBC (Aug. 13, 2017) [Attachment 6 (video file)]
(transcribed by William N. Evans) (emphasis added); available online at
<http://www.msnbc.com/weekends-with-alex-witt/watch/eyewitness-describes-car-plowing-through-
charlottesville-protest-1023714883913> and <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAgIkuGQeHs>.

15
 and I began to film their march. And they were in a celebratory mood
thinking that after the state of emergency, these white supremacist and nazi
groups had been banished from Charlottesville.

I began filming when from behind me I heard a vehicle accelerating very

quickly. I turned and saw the vehicle in question come down 4th Street at a
very high rate of speed. It went over a median area, and then barreled into the
crowd, sending bodies flying everywhere.”37

53. On information and belief, Gilmore has never, in any of his numerous media interviews, op-

eds, and other public comments, described seeing the Dodge Challenger stopping and

pausing in the vicinity of the protesters and reversing up 4th Street prior to accelerating

towards the crowd.

54. Eyewitness video taken the day of the incident and released on the internet and to the media

appeared to confirm that the Dodge drove straight at the crowd, without stopping or reversing

up 4th Street beforehand.

55. One such eyewitness video was uploaded to Twitter by Brennan Gilmore. This video, which

shows the Dodge careening toward and colliding with the crowd without stopping or

reversing beforehand, has been viewed over six million times on Gilmore’s Twitter account

alone.38

56. The publication of the media’s stories about the videos shown at Fields’s preliminary hearing

add to the public confusion and uncertainty regarding the August 12 incident.

37
Brennan Gilmore, Interview with Judy Woodruff of PBS (Aug. 23, 2017) [Attachment 6 (video file)]
(transcribed by William N. Evans) (emphasis added); available online at
<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/witness-charlottesville-death-threats-conspiracy-theories-
began> and <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KEcmhvwXUk>.
38
Brennan Gilmore (Twitter @brennanmgilmore), “Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors” (Aug.
12, 2017) [Attachment 5 (Twitter page) and Attachment 6 (video file)]; available online at
<https://twitter.com/brennanmgilmore/status/896434516260212737?lang=en>.

16
57. The national media’s written descriptions of videos that are otherwise hidden from view do

not penetrate the public consciousness like a contemporaneous video like Gilmore’s that is

seen and shared on social media by millions.

58. The news stories describing the two videos shown at Fields’s preliminary hearing do not

reproduce the content of the videos in text form, and are not comparable to the written

transcript of an audio recording of a conversation in, for example, a deposition or 911 call.

59. In an important respect, the descriptions of the two videos provided by CNN and the

Washington Post contradict one another, further adding to the confusion surrounding the

August 12 incident.

a. CNN says that the videos show the Dodge “stopping about a block and a half away

from protesters, reversing, then driving into the crowd[.]”39

b. The Washington Post says that the Dodge “approached the Camry from behind . . .

then backed up, traveling more than a block, before accelerating forward at a rapid

clip, ramming into the back of the Camry.”40

c. Read together, these stories describe the Dodge “stopping a block and a half away

from protesters” [CNN], then “back[ing] up, traveling more than a block, before

accelerating forward at a rapid clip” [Washington Post] towards the protesters.

d. In other words, the CNN and Washington Post articles, read together, indicate that the

Dodge started accelerating towards the protesters from over 2.5 blocks away (1.5

blocks + 1 block = 2.5 blocks).

39
Kaylee Hartung and Darran Simon, Charge upgraded against suspect in Charlottesville rally killing,
CNN, Dec. 15, 2017 [Attachment 4(b)].
40
Paul Duggan, Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming Charlottesville
crowd, Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(c)].

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 e. The descriptions provided by CNN and the Washington Post cannot both be accurate

because there are only two blocks of Fourth Street between Market Street and Water

Street. One cannot stop “a block and a half away” and back up “more than a block”

within a two-block span.

60. The Washington Post’s description of the two videos contradicts other videos filmed on

August 12, further muddling the public record of the car attack.

a. The Washington Post says that the helicopter video shows a black pickup truck

arriving first at the intersection of 4th Street and Water Street, before the maroon van,

the silver Toyota Camry, and Fields’s Dodge Challenger arrived.41

b. At least three other videos in the public record contradict this account – one filmed by

a roving reporter, one filmed by an anonymous citizen, and one filmed from a camera

drone. These three videos in the public record show the maroon van arriving at the

intersection of 4th Street and Water Street first, before the black pickup truck, at least

five minutes prior to the car attack and well before the counter-protesters arrived on

the scene.

61. The best way to clarify the public record is to return the two videos to the Fields case file or,

alternatively, to release the videos to the broader public.

41
See Paul Duggan, Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming
Charlottesville crowd, Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017 [Attachment 4(c)] (“A black pickup truck
approaching the crowd pulled to the side of the road. A maroon van then stopped on the street in front
of the crowd, and a Toyota Camry stopped behind the van. Fields’s Dodge approached the Camry
from behind . . .”).

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 Index of Attachments

1. James Alex Fields Preliminary Hearing Transcript (Dec. 14, 2017).

2(a). Letter from William N. Evans, Petitioner, to Miriam Dickler, Director of
Communications for the City of Charlottesville (Dec. 15, 2017).
2(b). Second Letter from William N. Evans, Petitioner, to Miriam Dickler, Director of
Communications for the City of Charlottesville (Dec. 26, 2017).
2(c). Email from Lieutenant Cheryl Sandridge to William N. Evans (Dec. 27, 2017).
2(d). Second Email from Lieutenant Cheryl Sandridge to William N. Evans (Jan. 2, 2018).
2(e). Email from Miriam Dickler, Director of Communications for the City of Charlottesville,
to William N. Evans (Jan. 3, 2018).
3(a). Letter from William N. Evans, Petitioner, to Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph D.
Platania and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony (Jan. 18, 2018).
3(b). Letter from Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony to William N.
Evans (Jan. 24, 2018).
4(a). Hawes Spencer and Richard Perez-Pena, Murder Charge Increases in Charlottesville
Protest Death, N.Y. Times, Dec. 14, 2017.
4(b). Kaylee Hartung and Darran Simon, Charge upgraded against suspect in Charlottesville
rally killing, CNN, Dec. 15, 2017.
4(c). Paul Duggan, Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming
Charlottesville crowd, Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017.
4(d). Sarah Rankin, Suspect in Virginia car attack faces upgraded charge, Associated Press,
Dec. 15, 2017.
4(e). Jason Kessler (Twitter @TheMadDimension), “JAMES FIELDS IS INNOCENT” (Dec.
14, 2017), available online at
<https://twitter.com/themaddimension/status/941453577981218816>.
5. Brennan Gilmore (Twitter @brennanmgilmore), “Video of car hitting anti-racist
protestors” (Aug. 12, 2017), available online at
<https://twitter.com/brennanmgilmore/status/896434516260212737?lang=en>.
6. Video Files on DVD
 Jason Kessler, “James Fields is Innocent” (Dec. 14, 2017).
 Brennan Gilmore, Interview with Alex Witt of MSNBC (Aug. 13, 2017).
 Brennan Gilmore, Interview with Judy Woodruff of PBS (Aug. 23, 2017).
 Brennan Gilmore, “Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors” (Aug. 12, 2017).

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STATE OF VIRGINIA,
COUNTY OF FAIRFAX, to wit:

I, William N. Evans, petitioner herein, being duly sworn, say that I have read the foregoing and
know the contents thereof, and that the same is true to the best of my knowledge, information
and belief.

______________________________

William N. Evans

Subscribed and sworn to before me this ____ day of ____, 2018 by William N. Evans.

My commission expires:

______________________________

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