A federal grand jury has indicted four men in connection to last year's violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia announced the charges on Wednesday. Each of the men faces one count of conspiracy to violate the Riot Act and one charge of traveling to Virginia with the intent of starting and participating in a riot.
They also face charges of contributing to the violence during a torch-lit march on Aug. 11, 2017 and the "Unite the Right" rally the next day.
The indictment says the four men have gone to political rallies with the intent to participate in or commit acts of violence at least two other times.
The men were arrested last week. While announcing the arrests, the U.S. attorney in western Virginia said what the men did wasn't "the lawful exercise of First Amendment rights."
These charges are not linked to the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer.
