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After More Than 100 Warrant Requests, Only 4 Arrests In 2016 Capitol Brawl

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The criminal case into last year's giant brawl between neo-Nazis and anti-fascists on the Capitol steps is now set to enter the courtroom.

Of the more than 100 people the CHP recommended facing charges, the Sacramento District Attorney announced it is filing charges against just four.

Yvette Felarca, Michael Williams, Porfirio Paz, and William Planer are under arrest for charges ranging from assault with a deadly weapon to inciting a riot.

Williams spoke to CBS13 from the Sacramento County Jail. He says he's not surprised it took more than a year or arrests to come down.

Williams says he was representing a group called the Brown Berets at the Capitol as a counter-protester to a neo-nazi event.

"You gotta also remember that was the week after the killing in Florida -- the 49 people killed in Florida," Williams said. "So tensions were high and they wanted to come to Sacramento bringing their hate message."

Sacramento's district attorney is also charging Yvette Felarca in the melee. She was caught on video in the clashes and spoke to reporters afterward with a giant bandage on her head.

Her attorney Shanta Driver says Felarca was taken into custody at LAX where she was arriving on a flight.

"To be bludgeoned and stabbed by a Nazi and then to be charged with a felony herself is completely ridiculous," Felarca said.

Legal expert Mike Wise says TV interviews at the scene by those involved will likely be part of the D.A.'s case.

"As I recall there were a lot of statements made on-site about we got the better of them, we were more aggressive," Wise said. "Those types of boisterous statements can be used against you in trial.

William Planer was the only person arrested from the Traditionalist Worker Party, the neo-Nazi group protesting at the Capitol. He's also in custody in Colorado for allegedly vandalizing a synagogue.

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