US white nationalists ordered to pay US$25 million for deadly Charlottesville violence
- The organisers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally were found liable for injuries suffered by counterprotesters during the two days of demonstrations
- A day after white nationalists marched with tiki torches, a Nazi sympathiser rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one woman
A jury ordered white nationalist leaders and organisations to pay more than US$25 million in damages Tuesday over violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
After a nearly month-long civil trial, the jury in US District Court deadlocked on two key claims but found the white nationalists liable on four other counts in the lawsuit filed by nine people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the two days of demonstrations.
Lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the plaintiffs’ lawyers plan to refile the suit so a new jury can decide the two claims this jury could not reach a verdict on. She called the amount of damages awarded from the others counts “eye opening”.
“That sends a loud message,” Kaplan said.
The verdict, though mixed, is a rebuke to the white nationalist movement, particularly for the two dozen individuals and organisations who were accused in a federal lawsuit of orchestrating violence against African-Americans, Jews and others in a meticulously planned conspiracy.