5 Things About Alex Michael Ramos: Georgia Man Tied To Charlottesville Violence

ACWORTH, GA -- Police in Cobb County announced Tuesday that suspect Alex Michael Ramos had been arrested in connection with the violence that took place in Charlottesville. Ramos surrendered to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Cobb officials said Tuesday. He faces extradition to Virginia to face charges.

Ramos, 33, of Marietta is wanted for "malicious wounding" in the attack of DeAndre Harris, who is seen on video being pummeled by a group of men. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Activists had been on a campaign to identify those seen in the ruckus associated with a white nationalist rally that led to the deaths of three people. In his last interview before he surrendered to authorities, Ramos shed light on his beliefs and allegiances and what he was doing in Charlottesville.

1. Ramos has strongly denied that he is a racist

Ramos has been accused of being in a white supremacist group, to which he told CBS, "Absolutely not." When asked if he was a neo-Nazi, he told the news station, "Absolutely not."

2. Why he was in Charlottesville

Much has been made about the men who showed up to support at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Ramos said that he attended the event for one specific reason. "I was there because, pretty much, I'm a conservative ... there were some non-racist members who were going to a free speech rally."

3. He identifies as Puerto Rican

The Marietta man posted a video on his Facebook page, which has since been deactivated, saying that he couldn't be a racist because he was "Spanish," specifically Puerto Rican. The video was posted on Youtube by an account titled Atlanta Antifascists.

4. His reported affiliations

A picture circulating on social media this summer shows a man that appears to be Ramos (far right) with a militia group called the III% Georgia Security Force. Picture with them at the "Islamophobic March Against Sharia" in June at Piedmont Park is state Sen. Michael Williams, who is running for governor.

Williams faced intense criticism for the photo, but his spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the lawmaker posed for the picture because the men looked to be "pro-gun supporters."

5. Why he says about the attack on DeAndre Harris

"These men attacked us," Ramos said in a Facebook video in reference to the incident that happened in a Charlottesville parking garage. "I thought I was going there in a defensive mode, defending people from being attacked," he said. "I hit the man one time," Ramos said of 20-year-old Harris. "Before I got there, men beat him with sticks and shields. I had nothing to do with that."

In the more than 50-minute-long video, Ramos says he “stomped some a**” during the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville. Video of a group of white men beating and stomping a black man, 20-year-old DeAndre Harris, went viral shortly after the melee.

In the weeks since, throngs of people have been alerting Cobb's law enforcement of Ramos' alleged involvement in the violence, but authorities said that until a warrant had been issued by Virginia authorities, there was not much they could do.

Ramos has been no stranger to social media. A man who appears to be Ramos is seen in a Youtube video spraying pepper spray on counter-protesters during the rally.

He also uploaded a video shortly after the events in Charlottesville, seemingly defending the violence that took place. “Nobody else was protecting us. Yeah, I’m glad I stomped some a** out there,”he says in the viral clip. “You hurt my people I guess we hurt you back.”

The clashes in Charlotteville not only shocked the nation but took the lives of three people. One counter-protester, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a white supremacist mowed down protesters in his car, authorities said. Two Virginia State Police officers -- State Trooper-Pilot Berke Bates and Pilot Lt. H. Jay Cullen -- also died when their helicopter crashed immediately after the violence.

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Image via Cobb County PD