AP: ‘Unite the Right’ rally’s planners accused in civil trial

By Denise Lavoie, AP. Read the full article here.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The violence at the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville shocked the nation, with people beaten to the ground, lighted torches thrown at counterdemonstrators and a self-proclaimed Hitler admirer ramming his car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring dozens more.

The driver of that car is serving life in prison for murder and hate crimes. Now, more than four years later, a civil trial will determine whether the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who organized the demonstrations should be held accountable as well.

Jury selection began Monday for the trial in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, which is expected to last a month.

The lawsuit was funded by Integrity First for America, a non-profit organization formed in response to the violence in Charlottesville with the goal of disarming the instigators of violence through litigation.

It accuses some of the country’s most well-known white nationalists of orchestrating a “meticulously planned conspiracy” to commit violence against Blacks, Jewish people and others based on race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. A firestorm erupted after then-President Donald Trump failed to strongly denounce the white nationalists, saying there were “very fine people on both sides.”

Read the full article here.