Trial of Unite the Right organizers begins Monday

[mahatmakanejeeves]

News

Trial of Unite the Right organizers begins Monday

Plaintiffs hope a decision against the defendants will lead to bankruptcy for many white supremacist groups

By Stratton Marsh
October 24, 2021

A civil trial filed against organizers of the “Unite the Right” rally is set to begin Monday, more than four years after the events of Aug. 11 and 12, 2017. Plaintiffs seek to prove there was a conspiracy to commit racial violence during the rally.

“​​The violence, suffering, and emotional distress that occurred in Charlottesville was a direct, intended, and foreseeable result of [the] Defendants’ unlawful conspiracy,” the complaint reads.

On Aug. 11, 2017, several hundred white supremacists gathered with torches around the statue of Thomas Jefferson on the North side of the Rotunda, chanting “White Lives Matter” and “Jews will not replace us.” A group of counter-protestors waited for the “alt-right” marchers at the Jefferson statue, chanting “Black Lives Matter” and circling around with their backs to the statue and linking arms. The two groups confronted each other and a fight broke out before the police separated them. Several people were injured during the altercation.

The next day, the “Unite the Right” rally drew hundreds of white supremacists and counter-protestors to Charlottesville. Organized in part by white supremacist and conspiracy theorist Jason Kessler, the rally brought hundreds of “alt-right” groups and individuals to Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall to protest City Council’s vote to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in what is now known as Market Street Park.

The Lee statue was constructed in 1924 and was commissioned by Paul Goodloe McIntire, the namesake of the University’s McIntire School of Commerce, McIntire Amphitheater and McIntire Department of Art. McIntire also bought Lee Park — which was renamed Market Street Park in 2018 — for the statue to reside.

Some of the protestors moved to McIntire Park after law enforcement officials declared the rally an unlawful assembly. At McIntire Park, attendees then listened to speeches from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Richard Spencer, founder of the white nationalist movement the “alt-right” and a graduate of the University, and Mike Enoch, host of the “alt-right” podcast “The Daily Shoah.”

{snip}

Jury selection for the trial begins Monday, and opening arguments will start Wednesday. Due to the pandemic, only the judge, jury, courtroom officials, plaintiff, defendants and attorneys will be allowed in the courthouse. Journalists will watch from a separate room, while the public can listen to an audio recording

[lark]

1. I sure hope this ends up with the right verdict.

The extremist right is already scary, they certainly don't need any encouragement & could use some really active discouragement - but is the Merrick Garland JD up to it? That's something I am worried about.