NB: Do note that the tort actions mentioned below used against the
Trumpite base entities could equally be started (and some have) by the
Trumpite base against those opposed by Trumpites (e.g., sane
progressive, liberal, anti-racist, anti-global-warming-pro-environment
groups). A sword cuts both ways; the USA today appears to be almost as
strongly divided (and in some ways, regionally) as before the secession
of the Confederate States of America, and fundamentally over the same
racist issue (not enslaving blacks, merely subjugating blacks and browns
and denying social safety nets and services nominally because of
"libertarian capitalist" beliefs but in reality because so much of these
would go to blacks and browns -- were Medicare for All be for whites
only, there evidently would be much less resistance).
https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-over-charlottesville-unite-rally-080025307.html
USA TODAY
Lawsuit over Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' rally has crippled white
supremacist groups, leaders
White nationalist Richard Spencer (center) and his supporters clash with
Virginia State Police in Emancipation Park after the "Unite the Right"
rally was declared an unlawful gathering Aug. 12, 2017 in
Charlottesville, Virginia. Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and
members of the "alt-right" clashed with anti-fascist protesters and
police as they attempted to hold a rally in Emancipation Park, where a
statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was slated to be removed.
A white supremacist with a Nazi tattoo leaves Emancipation Park in
Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017.
Flowers and notes are left in memory of Heather Heyer, who died after
she was struck when a car plowed into a crowd protesting the 'Unite the
Right' rally on Aug. 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va.
Firefighters from northern Idaho and eastern Washington participate in
fire training on July 11, 2001, climaxing with the destruction of the
church structure at the former Aryan Nations compound in Hayden, Idaho.
The only other structure then remaining at the compound was the former
residence of Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, which also was to be
used for firefighter training.
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol on
January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. - Demonstrators breeched security
and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential
election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 0 ORIG FILE
ID: AFP_8YA8PE.jpg
1 / 5
Lawsuit over Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' rally has crippled white
supremacist groups, leaders
White nationalist Richard Spencer (center) and his supporters clash with
Virginia State Police in Emancipation Park after the "Unite the Right"
rally was declared an unlawful gathering Aug. 12, 2017 in
Charlottesville, Virginia. Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and
members of the "alt-right" clashed with anti-fascist protesters and
police as they attempted to hold a rally in Emancipation Park, where a
statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was slated to be removed.
Will Carless, USA TODAY
Sun, October 17, 2021, 10:23 AM·7 min read
In this article:
A federal lawsuit against the organizers of the deadly 2017 Unite the
Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which has rattled hate groups
and white supremacist leaders, goes to trial this month.
The suit already has helped to dismantle some of America's most
well-known white supremacist groups, and it has financially crippled one
leader of the so-called "alt-right," the white supremacist and
nationalist movement that came to prominence under President Donald Trump.
"It's very stressful, and very costly," said Richard Spencer, one of the
defendants in the lawsuit and the former de facto leader of the
"alt-right," in an interview. "This level of pressure is definitely scary."
Lawsuits have long been used to dismantle or bankrupt the engines of
hate in the U.S., including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations and the
neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer.
"We know that civil lawsuits work in holding accountable extremists by
going after their finances and their operations," said Amy Spitalnick,
executive director of the nonprofit civil rights group Integrity First
for America, which is backing the lawsuit. "That has been true for decades."
But even when those groups have been crippled, white supremacists have
adapted, going underground and surfacing with new organizations and leaders.
A white supremacist with a Nazi tattoo leaves Emancipation Park in
Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017.
A white supremacist with a Nazi tattoo leaves Emancipation Park in
Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017.
An alleged conspiracy to Unite the Right
The Unite the Right rally, held on Aug. 11 and 12, 2017, was a watershed
moment for the white supremacist movement in the United States.
Coming the summer after the election of a president who kickstarted his
political career by pushing a racist conspiracy theory, the event put
American hatred on full display.
Clean-cut white men marched across the University of Virginia campus
carrying tiki torches and chanting, "Jews will not replace us."
Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, brandishing shields emblazoned with
Nazi symbols, chanted racist and antisemitic slogans as they fought the
removal of a Confederate monument.
Fights between white supremacists and counter-protesters broke out.
Neo-Nazi James Fields drove his car into a crowd, killing Heather Heyer.
Fields was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Flowers and notes are left in memory of Heather Heyer, who died after
she was struck when a car plowed into a crowd protesting the 'Unite
the Right' rally on Aug. 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va.
Flowers and notes are left in memory of Heather Heyer, who died after
she was struck when a car plowed into a crowd protesting the 'Unite the
Right' rally on Aug. 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va.
Heather Heyer attack: Neo-Nazi James Fields gets life plus 419 years for
murder in Charlottesville
Integrity First's wide-ranging lawsuit alleges that the leaders of the
white supremacist movement engaged in a conspiracy to commit racially
motivated violence against nonwhite and Jewish people during the Unite
The Right rally.
"The violence in Charlottesville was no accident," the lawsuit states.
"Defendants spent months carefully coordinating their efforts, on the
internet and in person. They exhorted each other: 'If you want to defend
the South and Western Civilization from the Jew and his dark-skinned
allies, be at Charlottesville on 12 August' and 'Next stop:
Charlottesville, VA. Final stop: Auschwitz.'"
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the plaintiffs,
with the amount to be decided by a jury.
The defendants are a "who's who" of the extremist right: Jason Kessler,
a key organizer of the event; neo-Nazi podcaster Christopher Cantwell;
Nathan Damigo, a white supremacist who founded the group Identity
Evropa; Spencer; and a host of other extremist leaders and groups.
Richard Spencer: Suit has been 'crippling'
Despite briefly rising to prominence at the outset of the Trump
presidency, the last four years have proven brutal for the "alt-right,"
a political movement that mixes racism, white nationalism, antisemitism
and populism. That's thanks in part to the pressure of the case, filed
in October 2017.
Spencer has no illusions about the state of the movement he helped
create. "The 'alt-right' is dead," he said in an interview last month.
Last week, Spencer acknowledged that the Integrity First lawsuit has
taken a toll.
Along with the constant stress, the lawsuit has cost thousands of
dollars to defend, Spencer said. In June 2020, he told the court that
the case has been "financially crippling." Now he's representing himself
in court.
White nationalist Richard Spencer (center) and his supporters clash with
Virginia State Police in Emancipation Park after the "Unite the
Right" rally was declared an unlawful gathering Aug. 12, 2017 in
Charlottesville, Virginia. Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and
members of the "alt-right" clashed with anti-fascist
protesters and police as they attempted to hold a rally in Emancipation
Park, where a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was slated to
be removed.
White nationalist Richard Spencer (center) and his supporters clash with
Virginia State Police in Emancipation Park after the "Unite the Right"
rally was declared an unlawful gathering Aug. 12, 2017 in
Charlottesville, Virginia. Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and
members of the "alt-right" clashed with anti-fascist protesters and
police as they attempted to hold a rally in Emancipation Park, where a
statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was slated to be removed.
The plaintiffs – a minister, students and other Charlottesville
residents – have won default judgments against seven of the 24
defendants, with the penalties to be decided by the jury. The court has
issued five-figure fines against three other defendants for failing to
produce evidence or show up for court hearings or depositions, court
files show.
Meanwhile, several of the groups named in the suit have fallen apart.
Vanguard America, the neo-Nazi group that Fields marched with,
fragmented after the rally. So did the Traditionalist Workers Party, a
white supremacist group. Cantwell is in prison after being convicted of
extortion. Identity Evropa rebranded, and in May 2020 defendants Matthew
Heimbach and Elliott Kline each were ordered to pay fines of more than
$12,000.
At least two defendants are in hiding: Andrew Anglin, who founded the
neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer and has another multi-million dollar
judgment against him from another lawsuit, and his webmaster Robert Ray,
who goes by "Azzmador" and disappeared from view last year after the
suit was filed.
"This case is about ensuring that these folks are effectively bankrupted
and dismantled," Spitalnick said. "The fact that so many of these
defendants have already been marginalized in the movement is a testament
to how accountability can work."
In that respect, the Charlottesville case follows a long history of
using lawsuits to disrupt hate groups.
A compound razed and movements flattened
An extraordinary series of photographs from 2001 shows the demolition of
the Aryan Nations compound outside Boise, Idaho. In one, a yellow digger
chews into a massive swastika painted on a roof. In another, a guard
tower is flattened by the same machine.
The compound was razed after the Aryan Nations was bankrupted in 2000 by
a lawsuit brought by an Idaho attorney and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
That case was one of almost a dozen such lawsuits filed by the SPLC
against various groups over the last 20 years.
Firefighters from northern Idaho and eastern Washington participate in
fire training on July 11, 2001, climaxing with the destruction of the
church structure at the former Aryan Nations compound in Hayden, Idaho.
The only other structure then remaining at the compound was the former
residence of Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, which also was to be
used for firefighter training.
Firefighters from northern Idaho and eastern Washington participate in
fire training on July 11, 2001, climaxing with the destruction of the
church structure at the former Aryan Nations compound in Hayden, Idaho.
The only other structure then remaining at the compound was the former
residence of Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, which also was to be
used for firefighter training.
"Every one of our cases led to the dissolution of a group," said Heidi
Beirich, who once led the SPLC's Intelligence Project. Now she's
co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. "It's a
very effective tactic."
The land that once housed the group is now a public park.
In the 1980s and 90s, the SPLC filed lawsuits against several chapters
of the KKK on behalf of plaintiffs who had been intimidated or
threatened. The lawsuits caused those chapters to file for bankruptcy or
shut down.
Beirich said she applauds Integrity First for bringing such a broad
lawsuit against so many defendants. The SPLC cases typically tackled one
organization or chapter at a time, she said.
Like the SPLC lawsuits, the Charlottesville case is based on more than
the mere speech of hate groups, which is protected, Beirich said. It
alleges the defendants engaged in illegal actions, including harassment
and assault.
Ku Klux Klan Act invoked in lawsuit over insurrection
The suit against the Unite the Right organizers appears to have opened
new legal fronts in the fight against extremism.
In late August, seven officers from the U.S. Capitol Police sued Trump,
his longtime adviser Roger Stone and members of far-right extremist
groups, alleging they conspired to use violence on Jan. 6 to attempt to
prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential
election
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol on
January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. - Demonstrators breeched security
and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential
election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 0 ORIG FILE
ID: AFP_8YA8PE.jpg
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol on
January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. - Demonstrators breeched security
and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential
election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 0 ORIG FILE
ID: AFP_8YA8PE.jpg
That lawsuit relies on the same statute used in the Charlottesville case
– the federal Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era statute
that allows individuals to sue when they are injured by conspiracies.
"Unfortunately, the KKK Act is experiencing something of a renaissance,"
said Karen Dunn, co-lead counsel on the Charlottesville lawsuitwith
Roberta Kaplan. "But we are glad it exists because this is exactly the
kind of conduct it is meant to address."