24 | OCTOBER 8 • 2020
Lawsuit Targets
White Supremacists
Alleged planners of Charlottesville violence
could face fi
nancial ruin.
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jews in the D
D
uring the past several years, Jewish
Americans and others have been
shocked by the increase in antise-
mitic public statements, physical assaults
and the killings of Jewish individuals across
the country by white supremacists, neo-Na-
zis and members of other hate groups.
In response, Jewish communities have
strengthened security at their facilities, spo-
ken out at community and interfaith events,
and sought action from public officials to
counteract threats and violence.
In August 2017, white supremacist,
neo-Nazi and other extremist groups
organized a “Unite the Right” protest in
Charlottesville, Va., protesting the city’
s
plans to remove a statue of Confederate
Gen. Robert E. Lee. Violent clashes occurred
between the Unite the Right supporters,
many from outside the area, and peaceful,
local counter-protestors, including interfaith
groups.
The extremist groups marched in down-
town Charlottesville, many with torches,
some wearing dark military-like helmets
and chanting antisemitic slogans — “Jews
will not replace us” and “Blood and soil” —
reminiscent of Nazi parades. Some carried
shields and pepper spray. They marched
around Temple Beth Israel, Virginia’
s oldest
synagogue, chanting threatening slogans, as
temple members participated in a regularly
scheduled service.
One hate group supporter purposely
drove a car into the peaceful counter-pro-
testors, killing one woman and injuring
dozens of others. The driver was tried and
convicted of second-degree murder by the
state of Virginia and is imprisoned there.
Public officials in Virginia and nationally
condemned the violence.
But a nonprofit organization, Integrity
First for America, is seeking legal action to
achieve more — justice for those who were
injured and accountability for those who
organized the weekend of violence. They
filed a civil lawsuit, Sines v Kessler, in federal
court in Virginia, charging that two dozen
individuals and groups planned and imple-
mented violence against peaceful protestors,
violating their rights during the weekend of
Aug. 12, 2017.
The lawsuit is based on the KKK Act
of 1871, which was passed to
prevent Ku Klux Klan attacks
against freed slaves. Amy
Spitalnick, executive director
of Integrity First for America,
says that the law has been used
multiple times during the 20th
century.
One of the nine plaintiffs, Elizabeth Sines,
a University of Virginia law student, tried to
peacefully protest during the Unite the Right
tiki torch march and was a bystander when
a car plowed into protestors. Defendant
Jason Kessler is a member of Proud Boys
who helped plan the Unite the Right events
with Richard Spencer. Proud Boys is the
extremist white nationalist group that
President Trump was asked to condemn
during the first presidential debate on Sept.
29. His response was to tell the group “Stand
back and stand by,
” which has since become
one of their organizing slogans. (On Oct. 1,
Trump said, “I condemn all white suprema-
cists. I condemn the Proud Boys.
”)
“The violence during the weekend of Aug.
12 was not an accident, not spontaneous —
it was racially motivated violence, planned
in advance on social media,
” said Spitalnick
during a webinar about antisemitism pre-
sented several months ago by the National
Council of Jewish Women.
Evidence gathered by Integrity First will
show that leaders of white supremacist,
neo-Nazi and other extremist groups incited
violence online and brought weapons to
Charlottesville.
“The First Amendment provides a right
to beliefs and their expression, but it does
not permit inciting to violence. Our case
takes on the leadership of these organiza-
tions to bankrupt and dismantle these orga-
nizations,
” she says.
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
Robert Sedler, distinguished professor of
law at Wayne State University Law School
and a special Michigan assistant attorney
AntiSemitism
the
Project
ANTHONY CRIDER VIA WIKIPEDIA
A scene from the
Unite the Right rally in
Charlottesville, Va.
Amy
Spitalnick