Rally lawsuit namesake takes the stand, pushes back against defendants
CHARLOTESVILLE Im here because of the harm that was done to me on August 11 and August 12 at the torchlight rally and the car attack and Im here because I would like those who have harmed me to be held accountable, said Sines v. Kessler namesake Elizabeth Sines, helping wrap up the third week of trial.
Sines is one of nine plaintiffs alleging in a federal lawsuit that key organizers and participants of the rally conspired to come to Charlottesville and commit acts of racist violence. If successful, the plaintiffs could win millions of dollars in damages.
As with several other plaintiffs who have testified so far, Sines testimony Friday focused on the emotional and psychological toll the Unite the Right rally and preceding UVa torch march took on her. Now 27 years-old, the former law student was among the crowd of anti-racist protesters that was struck by James Alex Fields Jr. and also witnessed the torch march.
Working in Baltimore at the time, Sines said she traveled back to Charlottesville to counter-protest against the groups who traveled to the city ostensibly to protest a City Council vote to remove a monument to Robert E. Lee. After reading on Twitter about a white supremacist torch rally set for UVa Grounds, Sines and a friend went to the Rotunda and saw violence engulfing a group of counter-protesters.
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