Civil Rights Leader Charged With Incest

Along with civil rights icons Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young, Bevel witnessed the April 4, 1968, assassination of King.

In 1992, Bevel was the vice presidential running mate of perennial presidential candidate Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., who had a strong following in Loudoun.

Bevel also helped organize the Million Man March in Washington in 1995.

The late author David Halberstam, who wrote about the civil rights movement, portrayed Bevel as a fearless risk-taker with an intuitive sense.

"And that was the only way this protest was going to work, to affect the consciousness of the country, the government, public opinion, was if they went into the most dangerous venues," such as Selma, Halberstam said in a 1998 NBC News interview.

Bevel was trained as a Baptist minister and later became pastor of the Hebraic-Christian-Islamic Assembly in Chicago.

At the time of his arrest, he was living in Eutaw, Ala., according to court documents.

Wittman said the investigation is ongoing. "For that reason, it would not be appropriate to make any comment," she said.