IFA Statement: If You’re Surprised, You Haven’t Been Paying Attention

Integrity First for America Executive Director Amy Spitalnick released the following statement:

“Since yesterday, one thing has become even more clear: like so much recent extremist violence, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other racist terrorists played a central role in the attack on the Capitol.

One insurrectionist wore a ‘Camp Auschwitz’ shirt. There were countless confederate flags and other white supremacist and Nazi imagery. A noose was hung outside the Capitol. The antisemitic QAnon movement had a prominent presence.

This isn’t coincidental. It’s because white supremacy is at the core of the American far-right.

If you’re surprised by what happened, you haven’t been paying attention.

There is a direct line from Charlottesville to the U.S. Capitol attack and it runs right through years of emboldening words and action by the highest levels of our government; total inaction by most social media companies; and a failure to fully heed the warnings of the experts.  

The answer is accountability and justice: for these violent terrorists, and for those who have incited and enabled them.

We are committed to winning accountability and justice as we go to trial in Charlottesville later this year. And it’s going to take all levels of federal, state, and local government, tech companies and the private sector, and everyday citizens to finally begin to eradicate this poison from our country.” 

Integrity First for America is the civil rights nonprofit backing a coalition of Charlottesville community members in Sines v. Kessler, the federal lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups that orchestrated the August 2017 Unite the Right violence. Trial is scheduled for 2021 in federal court in Charlottesville. Even before trial, the plaintiffs have already won extensive financial and evidentiary sanctions—as well as jail time—against the defendants.

Integrity First for America (IFA) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to holding those accountable who threaten longstanding principles of our democracy—including our country's commitment to civil rights and equal justice. IFA is backing the landmark federal lawsuit against the two dozen neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the August 2017 violence in Charlottesville. Trial is scheduled for this year. To learn more about the case, click here.