(CNN) — Two men facing charges connected to the 2017 White nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, are scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Tyler Bradley Dykes and William Zachary Smith are charged with burning an object with the "intent to intimidate" during the infamous demonstration, in which scores of people marched through the University of Virginia's Charlottesville campus carrying flaming tiki torches and chanting White nationalist slogans.
Dykes, of Bluffton, South Carolina, was arrested last Friday and will have his initial court appearance.
Smith, of Nacona, Texas, was arrested in January. He is also charged with maliciously releasing a chemical irritant such as tear gas the day of the march, according to court records. Smith is scheduled for a detention hearing.
A third defendant, Dallas Medina of Ravenna, Ohio, was arrested Monday, according to court records, but is not in custody.
The three defendants have not entered formal pleas. An attorney for Smith declined to comment earlier this week. CNN has been unable to reach Medina and an attorney representing Dykes.
Prosecutors said Monday the "burning an object with the intent to intimidate" charge is a low-level felony offense, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The chemical irritant charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The laws came about to curb racist terror committed by the KKK, like cross burning, UVA law professor Anne M. Coughlin told CNN on Friday.
"The statute prohibits burning objects in a public place, and the defendant has to have the intent to intimidate another person and to commit the burning in a manner that is likely to create an apprehension of death or bodily harm," Coughlin said.
"And so the elements of the statute are pretty straightforward. And it makes perfect sense from where I sit as a law professor, to see a prosecutor decide to pursue those charges on the kind of evidence that we have seen published in public that's available."
It is "plausible" more of the hundreds of participants in the rally could be charged, she said.
The demonstration at UVA was followed by a "Unite the Right" rally the next day in downtown Charlottesville.
Heather Heyer was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters gathered to oppose the gathering of White nationalist and other right-wing groups. Nineteen others were injured.
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