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

