Outed Charlottesville marcher says seeing 'guys in khakis' gave him impression neo-Nazi rally wasn’t racist

A man photographed marching alongside neo-Nazis during a rally at the University of Virginia says he didn't think the event was associated with racism.

Kyle Quinn, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, was initially misidentified as the man photographed wearing an "Arkansas Engineering" shirt at a neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia. He decided to leave his home over threats his family was receiving.

But the Arkansas Times correctly identified the man as 33-year-old Andrew M. Dodson, a former student at the University of Arkansas Engineering school. Dodson had enrolled in a graduate engineering program at the university from fall 2010 through 2013, but did not receive a degree.

Dodson told Arkansas Times that he traveled to Charlottesville to "see who these alt-right people were." He said he had heard that they were racist, but was skeptical because he didn't trust the media.

Dodson was photographed carrying a torch while several hundred others marched on the main quadrangle of the University of Virginia's grounds, shouting, "Jew will not replace us" and "blood and soil" -- a German slogan that was adopted by the Nazis.

But Dodson told Arkansas Times that he continued to participate in the march because he didn't "see any Nazi flags, just a bunch of guys in khakis and polos."

He said he had spoken to members of the group Identity Evropa, who told him they were not involved in white supremacy. The group was founded by a former Marine corporal who was inspired by the writings of former Klansman and avowed racist David Duke, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.