Month: October 2021

Each day, we’ll have the latest news from the courtroom in the Sines v. Kessler Unite the Right trial. For coverage from previous days, check the list of links at the bottom of this page.

On the fifth day of the Sines v. Kessler trial, plaintiffs’ attorneys brought to the stand two former UVA students. Natalie Romero and Devin Willis are among the nine plaintiffs in the case. They both counterprotested at the Friday night torch rally on UVA Grounds and at the Unite the Right rally the following day in August 2017. 

Romero took the stand first. She described the fear of that weekend and the injuries she suffered in the August 12 car attack. Later, after a grueling and emotional three hours of testimony in the morning, Romero also faced cross examination from Christopher Cantwell and Richard Spencer, the two defendants representing themselves, whom she and her fellow plaintiffs accuse of conspiring to commit racially motivated violence that permanently scarred her.  

“I just heard loudness. Almost like thunder. Like the earth was growling, essentially,” Romero recalled of the moments before the racist mob arrived at the Thomas Jefferson statue, where she was huddled with a group of about 15 fellow UVA students. 

Now 24, Romero said she could make out the mob’s chants, including “blood and soil” and “white power,” as the angry group approached. 

“There’s another one I hate repeating,” said Romero, who sobbed at times on the stand. “I hear it in my nightmares. I literally hear the same cadence to the ‘You will not replace us.’ That one was just so terrifying.”

A Houston, Texas, native, Romero said she was the first in her family to attend college, and came to the University of Virginia on multiple scholarships. In addition to ROTC, she was part of the Posse program, which provides students from low-income families special advisors before and during their time at UVA, and creates a cohort to provide support. 

She had completed an internship working on environmental issues that summer, and was in high spirits as she returned to Charlottesville from a road trip to Houston that Friday. 

“I took my last selfie of my face without what it looks like now,” she said, referencing scars on her face and body that resulted from the August 12 car attack. “Then I met up with friends, and we had dinner together.”

When Romero’s dinner group learned that the white nationalists were planning to march to UVA that night, she and two friends, including fellow plaintiff Willis, headed to the Thomas Jefferson statue in front of the Rotunda. Willis also testified about his terror as the mob of white nationalists arrived.

“This ocean of light and flames starts spilling over both sides of the steps,” said Willis, recalling the xenophobic chanting.

“They rush the entire area and surround all of us in a matter of seconds,” he said.

Like Romero, Willis had also just completed his first year at UVA in the summer of 2017. He was a member of the Black Student Alliance and recalled being targeted by the mob at the statue. Men sprayed his feet with lighter fluid and threw lit torches towards him. 

“I thought their strategy was going to be to burn us alive,” he said. 

Both Romero and Willis were eventually able to escape and rinse mace from their eyes.

Despite the terror of that night, the former students testified that they were not deterred from heading to downtown Charlottesville the following morning for a planned counterprotest of the Unite the Right rally.

“I figured because it was nighttime, that’s why they felt they could do that. Well, there aren’t going to be torches tomorrow,” Romero explained. “I wanted to be there for the community and with the community.”

Willis said he expected the Unite the Right rally to be similar to the July 8, 2017, KKK rally in Court Square Park, which he had attended and which did not end in violence. He had helped organize a peaceful counterprotest on Saturday, August 12, through a People’s Action for Racial Justice committee.

“I wasn’t in a negative mood,” Willis said. “I thought the day still had the potential to be good and peaceful.”

But worse was to come. 

Both witnesses recounted the unforgettable scenes of that day: armed white nationalists gathering in downtown Charlottesville, carrying Confederate flags and shields, wearing T-shirts with swastikas and images of Hitler.

As violence began to erupt near Market Street Park, Romero saw a group of white women and joined hands with them. 

“Honestly, I’m in this line thinking, ‘I’m okay. Why would they be violent to a group of women that are doing nothing? Especially, I’m with white women. I‘m a light-skinned Latina, not that many shades deeper.”

Groups of men still singled her out, she said.

“I got spit on by people who hate me and think I should not be alive and that I threaten their existence,” she said, her voice rising and cracking with emotion. “I’m just trying to go to school, man. I’m just trying to get out of poverty.”

Willis also had a violent encounter with Unite the Right protesters on Saturday, when his group of counterprotesters was assaulted by what he described as a militia brigade of older men.

“They eventually knock everybody down,” Willis said. “I am a nonviolent person, so I fled.”

When news reached the counterprotesters that the rally had been technically canceled by emergency order before it officially began, Romero joined the celebratory group of counterprotesters that would eventually have a fatal encounter with James Fields and his Dodge Charger on Fourth Street.

As Romero’s group rounded the corner from Water Street to Fourth Street, the impact of Fields’ car came without warning, she said.

“The next thing I know is just darkness. You know in the movies when it’s like beeeeep…. Bmm bmmm… I could hear my heart beating,” Romero said. “Like war scenes where they were just hit, and it’s just flashing.”

Dunn showed the jury photos of Romero soon after the impact, appearing dazed, her face and arms covered in blood. She suffered a fractured skull, damage to her teeth, and severe abrasions on her face and body that have left scars. 

“My confidence was destroyed,” Romero said, describing the impact of her injuries, which forced her to withdraw from school for a semester and left her with chronic headaches and vision problems. “I can live with my scars. I have to. But I hate it.”

On cross examination, attorneys for defendants, including Jason Kessler, expressed condolences for Romero and kept their questions brief, asking mostly if she could recall seeing specific defendants that Friday night on UVA Grounds or on Saturday at the rally. 

“I’m not sure,” Romero answered repeatedly.

The two defendants representing themselves in the case, Spencer and Cantwell, were more aggressive in their cross examinations, and Romero was forced to engage directly with two of the men she and the other plaintiffs have accused.  

“So you wanted to seek out the protesters, is what I understand,” Spencer asked. “You wanted to see a spectacle of some kind or get your word in?” 

“In no way did I want to meet protesters,” Romero responded calmly, noting she is a history buff and believed the events unfolding would be historic. “I wanted to see it with my own eyes.”

“When the car incident occurred, did you believe I was responsible or involved,” Spencer asked.

“I can’t say,” said Romero.

Cantwell’s cross examination was more broad. He peppered Romero with questions about her source of information about the torch march, and asked about the names  of other counterprotesters. He also asked her opinions on both the Robert E. Lee monument and Thomas Jefferson owning enslaved people.  

“I think it was terrible that it was put up at a time to intimidate people,” Romero responded to Cantwell’s query about the Lee monument.

“As a university student, we learn all about the history of Charlottesville and UVA. I hate the history that TJ and UVA has,” Romero said, making direct eye contact with Cantwell as she responded. 

Willis had not finished his testimony when court ended on Friday. The trial will resume Monday morning. 

Previous Sines v. Kessler coverage

Pre-trial: Their day in court: Major lawsuit against Unite the Right neo-Nazis heads to trial

Day one, 10/25: Trial kicks off with jury selection

Day two, 10/26: Desperately seeking jury

Day three, 10/27: Jury selection wraps up

Day four, 10/28: Plaintiffs and defendants make their opening arguments

Each day, we’ll have the latest news from the courtroom in the Sines v. Kessler Unite the Right trial. For coverage from previous days, check the list of links at the bottom of this page.

With a jury finally seated, opening statements began Thursday in Sines v. Kessler, the lawsuit filed by nine locals against organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally. 

Plaintiffs’ attorneys laid out their case that the two dozen defendants conspired to commit violence when they came to Charlottesville. The defendants’ attorneys—and two defendants who are representing themselves—contended that the case was an issue of free speech, and no matter how hate-filled their speech is, it’s protected.

Before the lawyers started talking, Judge Norman Moon instructed the jury on conspiracy, which he said is an unlawful partnership among those who have an unlawful objective—even if they don’t know each other. “By its very nature, conspiracy is clandestine and covert,” he said. Plaintiffs may use circumstantial evidence, he added.

It was an emotional day for the plaintiffs, who were in the federal courtroom for the first time since the trial began Monday. 

Plaintiffs’ attorney Karen Dunn played videos from the tiki-torch march through UVA grounds on August 11, when the ralliers chanted “Jews will not replace us.” She also showed footage of James Fields accelerating his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counterprotesters. Initially the sound wasn’t working, and she called for a pause. “We think it’s important that the jury be able to hear as well as see,” she said. (The press was unable to see anything from the video feed during the plaintiffs’ opening.)

Dunn promised the jury they’d see lots of evidence, and indeed, the plaintiffs’ attorneys have filed a 54-page list of the exhibits they plan to introduce, and have named 31 witnesses.

She showed a message alt-right leader Richard Spencer wrote: “We have entered a world of political violence.” Organizer Jason Kessler wrote to Spencer, “We’re raising an army my liege, for freedom of speech and the cracking of heads if necessary.”

And then there’s the cache of documents Unicorn Riot leaked from Discord’s Charlottesville 2.0 server, with chat rooms where many of the defendants planned Unite the Right. They discussed using shields, pepper spray, and flagpoles as weapons with “plausible deniability,” she said. They called pepper spray “gas.” Dunn warned the jury that “gas the kikes” was something it would hear a lot in this case.

“The defendants never expected their planning to see the light of day—or the inside of a courtroom,” said Dunn. 

Attorney Roberta Kaplan told the jury what the plaintiffs were doing that weekend. UVA students Natalie Romero and Devin Willis, then 20 and 18, joined the 30 or so students August 11 at the Thomas Jefferson statue. They heard the chants, they saw the Rotunda lit up by torch light, and they were terrified, said Kaplan. The students linked arms and were surrounded by hundreds of neo-Nazis, who screamed at them, pepper sprayed them, and kicked them. “Devin thought he was literally going to die,” she said.

On August 12, Romero and Willis headed to Emancipation Park (now Market Street Park), and were sprayed and assaulted once again, said Kaplan. Romero was thrown on the hood of a car. “Tragically that was not the only contact Natalie had with a car that day.”

Many of the plaintiffs joined a celebratory group marching down Water Street. Chelsea Alvarado was beating a large blue drum strapped across her chest. April Muniz wanted to document what was happening. Marcus Martin and his fiancee Marissa Blair marched with their friend Heather Heyer. Thomas Baker had recently moved to Charlottesville and wanted to show support for his new community.

Martin, Romero, Alvarado, and Baker were all hit by Fields’ car. Kaplan showed an image of Alvarado’s drum near Romero’s blood. 

Martin’s shoe came off and was lodged in the grill of the Charger. “These are the shoes,” said Kaplan, holding them up. “Shoes are stronger than human body parts.”

She said, “The evidence you see will be overwhelming. By the end of trial it will be clear the defendants conspired to commit violence.”

Not surprisingly, the defense disagreed. 

Attorney James Kolenich, who represents Kessler, Nathan Damigo, and Identity Evropa, told the jury that antifa, who don’t like Kessler, fascists, and neo-Nazis, were a big part of the case. “No one likes fascists or Nazis,” he acknowledged. “In many cases the defendants aren’t likable people.”

Kessler, he said, “did not know someone would come from out of town with a car.” 

Spencer, who was seen coming into court with a stuffed animal he called his “emotional support animal,” is representing himself. He stressed that he was an invited guest to the Unite the Right rally and had no hand in the planning. Some of the evidence, he conceded, such as a racist rant he made after the rally, would be embarrassing. ”I said things that were shameful and that I might never live down.”

He invoked retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and poet Robert Burns, and was interrupted three times by Moon, who told him to stick to the facts and not get into arguments.

Radical Agenda podcaster Chris “Crying Nazi” Cantwell, the other pro se defendant, urged Republicans to “stop fearing accusations of racism,” mentioned Mein Kampf, and disputed that all men are created equally.

“Tell the jury about your defense,” instructed Moon.

Cantwell told the jury that he’s an entertainer and he’d like to make the plaintiffs laugh. He said he was fired from a broadcast job for using the n-word. “My mouth gets me in trouble.” He is in jail now because he “threatened a Nazi who threatened a woman I wanted to marry.” He informed jurors three times that he is smart. 

With a bit of prescience, Cantwell said he wore a body camera to the Unite the Right rally because he knew if he went to court, “I’d be a profoundly unsympathetic defendant.”

He urged the jury to send a message to “violent communists” and said that “calling someone a racist isn’t an excuse to abuse the legal system and take a month out of your life.” The trial is scheduled to run four weeks.

Attorney Eddie ReBrook, who was taken to the emergency room earlier in the week, told the jury that he wasn’t going to try to humanize the defendants. “You won’t emerge from this trial liking the defendants.”

He represents the National Socialist Movement, its former head Jeff Schoep, and the Nationalist Front, and called his clients some of the most “notorious” in the case. They had nothing to do with the torch march or James Fields, he said, noting that it was better to keep Nazis out in the open. 

Once again, Moon reminded him jurors must make a decision based on the evidence.

ReBrook told jurors, “Don’t let lawyers from out of state come down to violate the First Amendment.” 

That drew a complaint from Kaplan, who is from New York.

ReBrook then quoted Nazi-killer Brad Pitt in Inglorious Basterds.

An exasperated Moon responded, “Mr. ReBrook, I don’t know why you don’t understand. Jurors only look at the evidence.” The ramifications of the trial have nothing to do with their verdict, nor is the court the place to send a message, said the judge.

Attorney Josh Smith, who represents Matthew Heimbach, Matthew Parrott, and the Traditionalist Worker Party, continued the argument that his clients were not involved in a conspiracy and that the case was a free speech issue. He said the defendants had a permit for the Unite the Right rally, while counterprotesters did not. “There’s no right to counterprotest,” he said.

“Counterprotesters do not need a permit to be there,” said Moon. “Other persons had a right to protest. I’ve ruled. It’s over. Move on to another matter.”

The trial continues Friday with the plaintiffs’ first witnesses.

Previous Sines v. Kessler coverage

Pre-trial: Their day in court: Major lawsuit against Unite the Right neo-Nazis heads to trial

Day one, 10/25: Trial kicks off with jury selection

Day two, 10/26: Desperately seeking jury

Day three, 10/27: Jury selection wraps up

Correction, 10/29: An earlier version misspelled Chelsea Alvarado’s name.

Each day, we’ll have the latest news from the courtroom in the Sines v. Kessler Unite the Right trial. For coverage from previous days, check the list of links at the bottom of this page.

It took two-and-a-half days to find 12 people who said they could be impartial jurors in a lawsuit against many of the country’s most notorious white supremacists. By early afternoon on Wednesday, presiding Judge Norman K. Moon announced a jury had been empaneled in Sines v. Kessler. 

The civil case brought by nine plaintiffs accuses more than two dozen hate groups and individuals responsible for the Unite the Right rally of conspiring to commit violence during the weekend of August 11 and 12, 2017. The trial is taking place in federal court in downtown Charlottesville, and the nature of the suit makes it unsurprising that nearly every prospective juror questioned during the process known as voir dire was asked about racism.

“Do you have any views if white people can be victims of racism,” Moon asked one prospective juror, a white man, on Wednesday morning.

“It could happen, but I think that, proportionally speaking, the historical and the incidents of racism against minorities is… significantly greater than what may happen to white people,” replied the man, who became one of the 12 final jury members.

Being personally impacted by the Unite the Right rally was another issue for some prospective jurors. 

One, a white man, said he’d been forced to close his business near the Downtown Mall for the weekend of the Unite the Right rally. His business shuttered for good in 2018, and he admitted to being biased against the defendants.

“I didn’t agree with why they felt the statues should stay,” he said, referring to the controversy over Confederate monuments that was the basis of the Unite the Right rally.

The defense asked the court to strike the former downtown business owner from the prospective jury pool.

“He’s basically in the same position as the plaintiffs,” argued Cincinnati-based attorney James Kolenich for the defense. “It’s clear who he blames for that injury. I don’t think he can be fair and impartial.”

Moon eventually agreed, and the man was released from jury service.

Later, the defendants objected to the candidacy of another potential juror, a Black man. In response, the attorneys for the plaintiffs disputed the objection, using a legal argument called a Batson challenge—the plaintiffs’ attorneys claimed the exclusion was based on his race, which would violate his equal rights under the Constitution.

The defense pointed out that there were multiple other Black jurors to whom they hadn’t objected, and noted that all the jurors eliminated by the plaintiffs were white. Attorneys for the plaintiffs countered, saying that argument was insufficient to allow the Black juror’s elimination from the jury pool.

“The Fourth Circuit squarely held that striking one Black juror violates that juror’s equal protection rights. It’s a right that the juror possesses as well, to not have his own equal protection rights violated,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Karen Dunn.

It was arguments by Christopher Cantwell and Richard Spencer, both of whom are representing themselves, that seemed to sway Moon’s opinion. Both Spencer and Cantwell claimed it wasn’t the man’s race they objected to but his demeanor.

“I’m a professional talk radio host. I talk and listen for a living,” said Cantwell. “I detected deception in the man’s voice.”

“I am convinced that he was, in his own mind, nobly lying in order to serve on the jury. That’s my opinion. I might be wrong or I might be right. I have a right to make a discretionary decision,” said Spencer. 

“Mr. Spencer gave his reasons for assessment of juror’s credibility. I do not find that the juror was being dishonest or evasive, but from Mr. Spencer’s and Mr. Cantwell’s viewpoints, I can see how they could arrive at the opinions that they did,” said Moon, denying the plaintiffs’ Batson motion to restore the Black juror to the jury pool.

With the 12-member jury seated by early afternoon, Moon convened court to give counsel for plaintiffs and defense time to prepare for opening statements on Thursday morning.

Previous Sines v. Kessler coverage

Pre-trial: Their day in court: Major lawsuit against Unite the Right neo-Nazis heads to trial

Day one, 10/25: Trial kicks off with jury selection

Day two, 10/26: Desperately seeking jury

Each day, we’ll have the latest news from the courtroom in the Sines v. Kessler Unite the Right trial. For coverage from previous days, check the list of links at the bottom of this page.

The difficulty of finding a jury without preconceived notions and biases about the Unite the Right rally here in Charlottesville continued into the second day of the Sines v. Kessler trial. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of nine plaintiffs, alleges a conspiracy among the white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally organizers to commit racially motivated violence when they gathered August 11 and 12, 2017.

It was after 6:30pm Tuesday when Judge Norman Moon decided to call it a day with only 10 jurors seated. He was willing to go with a panel of 11, but the defendants called for 12. Two more groups of jurors will be called in on Wednesday.

Other issues arose throughout the day. Attorney Edward ReBrook, working on behalf of defendants National Socialist Movement, the Nationalist Front, and Jeff Schoep, was in the emergency room, with no report on his condition by the end of the day. And the plaintiffs have a motion to reconsider a juror the defendants struck Monday, claiming the defendants’ challenge was made on the basis of race. 

“I’m hoping we can get a full panel by noon,” said Moon, while acknowledging opening arguments may not be able to proceed Wednesday.

Twenty-six potential jurors showed up at the federal courthouse. Some were dismissed for work concerns if seated for a four-week trial. Others said they had already formed opinions about both the defendants and the plaintiffs.

One woman identified the two parties in the case as “Black Lives Matter and antifa.” She also had a problem with the rights of “radical communists and atheists” to protest. Moon dismissed her.

Another said her son’s after-school teacher was “Mr. Dre,” whom the judge concluded was DeAndre Harris. Harris was severely beaten in the Market Street Garage. She began to cry on the stand, and Moon said he was striking her for cause as well.

“I never liked protests. I felt like everyone should stay home,” said a third woman, who was struck for cause. Asked whether she could set aside her preconceived notions about protesters, she ballparked her odds at 75 percent.

One potential male juror said, “I am biased against the defendants. I believe they’re evil and their organizations are evil. I would find that difficult to set aside.” 

“Crying Nazi” Christopher Cantwell and alt-right leader Richard Spencer, who are both representing themselves, wanted to question the man further after Moon was ready to dismiss him. That led to defense attorney James Kolenich lamenting pro se litigants, and said they could be prejudicial to his clients. Kolenich represents Jason Kessler, Nathan Damigo, and Identity Evropa.

A civics teacher who called the defendants “heinous” said he thought he could be fair. That was too big a leap for Moon, who struck for cause again.

One man called the left “unhinged” and said he believed the plaintiffs “probably” were armed. Another said, “I have already made up my mind. I live in this town. I know people who were assaulted. That poor girl died. I’ve already made up my mind.” Both were excused with cause.

At the end of the day, the court had seated three jurors: two men and a woman. Jury selection will continue into Wednesday.

Previous Sines v. Kessler coverage

Pre-trial: Their day in court: Major lawsuit against Unite the Right neo-Nazis heads to trial

Day one: Trial kicks off with jury selection