Our most popular story this week concerned a 52-year-old Baltimore City resident named Richard Preston, who authorities last weekend pegged as the guy who fired a shot at a black protester during the Aug. 12 unrest in Charlottesville, Va. As it turns out, Preston is also an imperial wizard of Rosedale’s Ku Klux Klan chapter. Several years ago, he tried to convince locals at a Klan meeting in Elkton that his white supremacist organization is somehow not a hate group.
The ACLU of Virginia said it sent the clip of Preston allegedly firing a pistol (and possibly shouting the n-word) at a black man nearby wielding a homemade flamethrower. Police showed up at his house on Cedonia Avenue in Northeast Baltimore’s Cedmont neighborhood on Saturday. He was formally charged in Charlottesville General District Court with one felony count of discharging a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.
Preston is no stranger to (alleged) criminal behavior. State court records show he was charged with assault and use of a deadly weapon with intent to injure in 2003, first-degree rape in 1991 and assault in two other incidents. In each case, the charges were eventually dropped.
Here were Baltimore Fishbowl’s other top reads over the last seven days:
Rachel Monroe – “The Ku Klux Klan Is Apparently Still Alive and Well in Maryland” – April 8, 2016
Ethan McLeod — “Councilman Scott, Sen. Ferguson Blocked from Hogan’s Meeting on Baltimore Crime” — Tuesday, Aug. 29
Elizabeth Heubeck — “High Schoolers Hit Snooze Button This School Year” — Wednesday, Aug. 30
Kit Pollard — “Hot Plate: Bubble Room at Lord Baltimore Hotel, Share Kitchen Opens, Butchery Class at P&L” — Friday, Aug. 25
Ethan McLeod — “Royal Farms’ Chicken Ranked Among Country’s Best Gas Station Cuisine” — Thursday, Aug. 31
Ethan McLeod — “Hit the Brakes: City’s New Red Light Cameras Now Issuing $75 Tickets” — Wednesday, Aug. 30
Ethan McLeod — “Michael and Nicole Phelps Are Having Another Baby” — Tuesday, Aug. 29
Ethan McLeod — “Hogan Defends Md. Flag After Controversy Over Confederate Ties” — Thursday, Aug. 24
Ethan McLeod — “Police: Men Chased Down After Robbing Woodlawn Pub With Officers Inside” — Thursday, Aug. 31
