Alleged Attacker at Charlottesville “Unite the Right” Rally Faces Battery Charges in Gainesville After Woman Reports Sexual Violence
A man who reportedly attended the Charlottesville, Virginia “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 and attacked a man while wearing a white helmet has been arrested in Gainesville, Florida after reportedly committing sexual violence.
Brett Barrouquere, Hatewatch Staff
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) deputies booked Alek Rhyne Hyer, 44, into the Alachua County Jail Wednesday on misdemeanor battery charges after a woman reported that he sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions.
Hyer was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery, one occurring in the jurisdiction of ACSO, and the other occurring in jurisdiction of the Gainesville Police Department (GPD).
Under Florida Statutes, sexual assault or molestation is generally charged as misdemeanor battery if the victim is 16 or older and the act doesn't involve penetration or skin-to-skin contact.
The Alachua County Jail is holding Hyer on a $10,000 bond.
In 2008, Hyer was sentenced to three years in prison for aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. Notably, the offense occurred over seven years prior to his sentencing.
Sexual Violence Reports:
The victim and Hyer knew each other through addiction recovery meetings and Hyer was supposed to provide mutual support.
After a meeting in April 2026, the victim went on a walk at a cemetery when Hyer began following her and started making unwanted sexual advances. The victim denied his advances. Despite this, Hyer reached out and groped her breast and stated he would “pop her pussy.”
The victim left the cemetery and returned to her vehicle in fear of Hyer escalating and hurting her.
The victim said she was scared because Hyer told her he knows where she lives. She advised that Hyer has stated he can lockpick doors and that “he could hurt her if he wanted to, but he decided not to.”
The victim and Hyer likely continued seeing each other after the cemetery incident at their addiction recovery meetings. On June 8, the victim went to Hyer’s house where he sexually assaulted her again.
The victim stated that Hyer grabbed her buttocks and further knelt down and kissed her pelvic region over her clothing. Hyer attempted to unzip the victim’s top but she was able to stop him before doing so. The victim described her relationship with Hyer as “only friends” and advised they would sometimes lean on each other for assistance in battling addiction.
Regarding the incident at Hyer’s house, police indicated that Hyer texted the victim apologizing for his actions and he may have claimed they “commonly [did] this type of thing.”
Deputy Jacob McWilliams reported, “Post Miranda, [Hyer] stated that he did grab the victim on the buttock. I asked [Hyer] why he would feel the need to apologize in text if he and the victim were commonly doing this type of thing. [Hyer] stated that he apologized to the victim for the actions as he ‘should have asked before touching her.' [Hyer] stated that he never kissed her anywhere on her body. [Hyer] did admit that he unzipped the victim’s jacket because he ‘wanted to see how the zipper worked,’ because there were two zippers on the jacket. [Hyer] stated that their relationship was just as friends but they often are very friendly with how they touch each other, but verified that they were never sexually involved. Finally, [Hyer] admitted that the victim had told him multiple times that he was crossing her boundaries and that she only wanted to be friends.”
Regarding the cemetery incident, Hyer acknowledged that he walked with the victim but denied grabbing her breasts. Hyer stated he grabbed the victim’s necklace because he wanted to “check” it. Hyer then acknowledged that the victim accused him of grabbing her breasts.
Battery of DeAndre Harris:
In August 2017, hundreds on the far-right marched in Charlottesville, Virginia in opposition to the city removing commemorations of the confederacy. The march was dubbed the “Unite the Right” rally.
DeAndre Harris, a Black man, was assaulted and/or battered by several men at the “Unite the Right” rally who have been identified as white supremacists. According to the Washington Post, “Several minutes before noon, police declared an unlawful assembly and ordered everyone to leave the area. As Harris and other counterprotesters walked up Market Street, he saw a friend being struck in the chest with the tip of a heavy wooden flagpole. He swung the Maglite, intending, he testified later, to hit the flagpole. But he wound up striking the head of Harold Crews, a North Carolina lawyer and state chairman of a white-nationalist group called the League of the South. Seconds later, Harris was pepper-sprayed — and quickly sensed he had become a target. So he fled into the parking garage adjacent to the Charlottesville police department, pursued by the pack of white supremacists. All it took was about 10 seconds. After the beating, Harris needed eight staples to close a gash on his scalp. His left wrist was broken, a front tooth was chipped, and he was covered with cuts and bruises.”
Harris was charged with assault after Crews sought a warrant. Judge Robert Downer later acquitted Harris after finding that he acted with defensive intentions rather than intent to harm Crews.
A group of six men violently beat DeAndre Harris in a parking garage next to the Charlottesville Police Department on August 12, 2017. (Video: Twitter/ChuckModi1)
In March 2019, Hatewatch reported that they and “online volunteers used photos from the August 2017 event as well as Discord chat logs leaked by Unicorn Riot to identify the man in the [white] Pro-Tec helmet as 36-year-old Alek Rhyne Hyer of Gainesville, Florida… Footage shows Harris being knocked to the ground as a man previously known only as ‘White Helmet’ emerges from the back of the melee and swings his flagpole down on Harris’ skull… ‘White Helmet’ was later photographed at the scene of the beating having bandages applied to a head wound by Michael Tubbs, [League of the South] chief of staff. In the aftermath of the rally, Hyer shared to a since-leaked Discord thread: ‘i got hit in the head with pipe : can’t wait to explain this to my boss at work,’ and explaining that his injuries included ‘stitches and [a] broken cheekbone.’”
According to Hatewatch, Hyer showed interest in the “Proud Boys” group and “also took part in trying to raise money for Andrew Anglin and his neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer in Discord chats. Several times in July 2017 he lobbied other posters to send money to Anglin to get the site up and running.”
“Hyer has not been charged in relation to the Harris beating,” Hatewatch reported.
Four individuals were convicted of malicious wounding against Harris:
- Jacob Scott Goodwin - Sentenced to eight years in prison
- Alex Michael Ramos - Sentenced to six years in prison
- Tyler Watkins Davis - Sentenced to two years and one month in prison
- Daniel Patrick Borden - Sentenced to 20 year suspended sentence (three years and ten months of actual incarceration).
