They're seeking to implicate organizers - allegedly including Rudy Giuliani, members of the Proud Boys and even former President Donald Trump - and others who have been accused of inspiring violence, including racially motivated violence, ahead of the riot. Some Capitol Police officers and members of Congress are relying on the very same statute to bring their own civil lawsuits over the January 6 attack on the U.S. The post-Civil War era statute - one of the few laws that enables plaintiffs to accuse fellow citizens, rather than the government, of depriving them of their civil rights - has been employed in civil litigation more than once this year. We do not believe this will change." Clerk reads partial verdict in "Unite the Right" civil case, Charlottesville, VA, Nov. After reviewing final jury instructions and decided claims 1 and 2 at length, we are deadlocked. Kessler.Īccording to the note from the jury, "We have unanimously decided on claims 3,4,5,6. Those two federal conspiracy charges are outlined in the "Ku Klux Klan Act," an 1871 statute designed to protect African Americans from the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, but used in modern day for the first time in Sines v. The jury sent a note to the court indicating they were deadlocked and could not reach a decision on the first two claims - whether defendants engaged in a conspiracy to commit racial violence, and whether they had knowledge of such a conspiracy, but failed to prevent it. Spencer, who represented himself, called the trial a "weapon against free speech.Nine plaintiffs - made up of current and former Charlottesville residents - were seeking in this civil case to prove that their constitutional rights were violated when the defendants entered into a conspiracy of racially motivated violence, and they were asking for compensatory and punitive damages for physical and emotional injuries. "They've proven to you that the alt-right is the alt-right. "The bravery of the plaintiffs and the horrific injuries that many of them suffered don't prove a conspiracy," defense attorney James Kolenich said in his closing argument. They also said their language on internet forums and chat rooms was hyperbolic and protected by the First Amendment. The defendants tried to distance themselves from Fields in testimony and said they engaged in violence only when they were attacked. The plaintiffs who were struck by Fields' car and were injured sought $7 million to $10 million in damages, while those who suffered emotional pain asked for $3 million to $5 million. Some of the plaintiffs were present and say they were terrified for their lives. At one point, white supremacists encircled counterprotesters and some clashes occurred. The plaintiffs alleged that the nighttime march, where some 300 white supremacists held lit torches, was meant to evoke fear similar to that from Ku Klux Klan and Nazi marches. The nonprofit Integrity First for America backed the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They alleged that the organizers and participants of the rally conspired to commit violence and interfered with their 13th Amendment right to be free from racially motivated violence. The plaintiffs - all residents or former residents of Charlottesville - sued a group of two dozen white nationalist activists and organizations in federal court. this country will not tolerate the use of violence to deprive racial and religious minorities of the basic right we all share to live as free and equal citizens." They added: "Today's verdict sends a loud and clear message that facts matter, the law matters, and that the laws of. "We are thrilled that the jury has delivered a verdict in favor of our plaintiffs, finally giving them the justice they deserve after the horrific weekend of violence and intimidation in August 2017," attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn said in a statement. Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Christopher Cantwell, as well as other white supremacists and neo-Nazis, were ordered to pay the nine plaintiffs in the civil trial millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages for physical and emotional injuries.
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