Tag: Chris Cantwell

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In brief: “Crying Nazi” faces prison time, neo-Nazi stickers spotted downtown, and more

PC: Eze Amos

Locked up

The “Crying Nazi” faces up to 22 years in prison. You have to make a lot of bad decisions in life for the local newspaper to write that sentence about you—and that’s exactly what Chris Cantwell has done.

The New Hampshire far-right radio host came to Charlottesville for the 2017 Unite the Right rally, where he was filmed by Vice chanting “Jews will not replace us” as he marched down the UVA Lawn with a tiki-torch wielding mob. Later that night, he pepper sprayed protesters at the base of the Jefferson statue, which eventually earned him two misdemeanor assault and battery charges and a five-year ban from the state of Virginia.

Soon after the rally, Cantwell uploaded a video of himself tearily proclaiming his innocence, earning him the above-mentioned nickname.

This time around, he’s been found guilty of extortion and interstate threats. In 2019, Cantwell sent online messages in which he threatened to rape another neo-Nazi’s wife if that neo-Nazi didn’t reveal the identity of a third neo-Nazi who had remained anonymous at the time.

In an interview with C-VILLE in 2017—conducted from his cell at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail—Cantwell offered a comment that looks positively prophetic in hindsight. “I’m a shock jock. I offend people professionally,” he said. “If we’re going to talk about all the nasty things I said on the internet, we’re going to be here for a while.”

Justice for Breonna

After several months of investigation, a grand jury indicted former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison last Wednesday for endangering the neighbors of Breonna Taylor during a botched no-knock raid—but did not charge the two officers who shot and killed the 26-year-old Black emergency-room technician in her own home.

Just hours after the announcement, more than 100 Charlottesville residents gathered on the Belmont Bridge in solidarity with Louisville, demanding justice for Taylor through the defunding and abolishing of police.

The crowd toted homemade signs and joined in chants led by organizer Ang Conn, as passing cars honked in support. A few protesters blocked the bridge with cars and cones, allowing everyone to move off the sidewalk and into the road for more chants and speeches from Black attendees.

Protesters marched down Market Street to the front of the Charlottesville Police Department, which had its doors locked and appeared to be empty, with no cops in sight.

“Say her name—Breonna Taylor,” chanted the crowd. “No justice, no peace—abolish the police.”

_________________

Quote of the week

“We have to do something. It’s not creating more data we already know. It’s not providing more funding to the police department. It’s not waiting to see how it plays out in court. …It’s rare for police to be held accountable.”

—community organizer Ang Conn calling for justice for Breonna Taylor during a protest held by Defund Cville Police

__________________

In brief

Fascist threat

In recent weeks, anti-racist activists have spotted dozens of stickers promoting the white supremacist, neo-Nazi group Patriot Front on or near the Downtown Mall and the Corner, as well as near the Lee and Jackson statues, reports Showing Up for Racial Justice. The activists urge anyone who sees a sticker to document its location, use a sharp object to remove it, and tell others where they saw it. If, however, you see someone putting up a sticker, the group advises against approaching the person if you are alone—instead, discreetly take a photo and alert others of the incident.

PC: Charlottesville Showing Up for Racial Justice

Jumped the gun

In case it wasn’t already clear what kind of operation Republican congressional candidate Bob Good was running, last weekend the Liberty University administrator held a “God, Guns, and a Good time” rally in Fluvanna County. Fliers for the event advertised a raffle with an AR-15 as the top prize. Good’s campaign now denies any affiliation with the raffle, reports NBC29, as holding a raffle to benefit a political campaign violates Virginia gambling and election laws.

Board bothers

The Charlottesville Police Civilian Review Board continues to meet obstacles in its years-long quest to provide oversight for local policing. Last week, just three months after the first meeting, board member Stuart Evans resigned. In his resignation letter, Evans declared the body was “fundamentally flawed,” and that the city’s refusal to give the board any real power led to his resignation. “I refuse to help the City clean up its image by peddling fictions of progress,” he wrote.

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In brief: VSP whites out, Queen of Virginia sues, Hoos win World Cup, and more…

A reporter suing Virginia State Police for a copy of its August 12 operations plan got 132 blank pages. staff photo

State police redact—heavily

Natalie Jacobsen, a reporter who has written for C-VILLE, has been trying to get the Virginia State Police to release its August 12, 2017, operations plan for almost two years under the Freedom of Information Act. She seemed close May 22, when a Charlottesville judge ordered the state police to produce the plan. However, what Jacobsen received is a document with 132 blank pages, and she’s going back to court.

According to the motion her attorneys with Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed July 9, the entire report was redacted except for portions previously published in the Governor’s Task Force and the Heaphy reports.

State police “were required to release all portions” of the operations plan, including non-public parts that are not subject to the tactical plans exclusion in FOIA, says the court filing. Jacobsen also objects to the state agency citing other FOIA exemptions for first time, and says with the
blank pages, she’d have to guess at which exemptions police are applying to particular information.

She wants the court to order state police to immediately release portions of the 177-page plan that were improperly redacted. A hearing date has not been set.

Quote of the week

“We want Charlottesville to be known as a community that has learned important lessons from our long and complex racial history, from the Summer of Hate, that we are resilient, and that we have set a course for a better future for all of our residents.” —City Manager Tarron Richardson on ditching TJ’s birthday

In brief

Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania got sued by a game maker who took issue with Platania’s assessment of Queen of Virginia’s legality. staff photo

Prosecutor sued

The company that makes the Queen of Virginia game filed a lawsuit against Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania, who banned the machines in the city in June and said enforcement would begin August 5 for those who had not removed the games, according to the Daily Progress. According to a post on SafeBettingSites.com, the manufacturer contends the machines are “skill games,” while Platania says they violate Virginia’s law against illegal gambling. 

World Cup Hoos

Three former UVA soccer players—Becky Sauerbrunn, Morgan Brian, and Emily Sonnett—were on the winning U.S. national women’s soccer team in Lyon July 7, and UVA women’s soccer head coach Steve Swanson served as an assistant coach.

Sanctuary fine

ICE is threatening to impose a $214,000 fine on Guatemalan refugee Maria Chavalan Sut, who has lived in Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church since October while she fights deportation, the DP reports. The Reverend Isaac Collins says “The purpose of it is to intimidate Maria and to put pressure on her.”

Can’t shut up

Crying Nazi Chris Cantwell allegedly threatened one of the lawyers suing him for damages stemming from August 2017. Attorney Roberta Kaplan asked a federal judge to order Cantwell to stop making “unlawful threats” on social media, such as this on Telegram: “When this stupid [anti-Semitic slur] whore loses this fraudulent lawsuit, we’re going to have a lot of fucking fun with her.”

State Senator Bryce Reeves points out that one of his Senate colleagues is “openly gay” at an NRA gathering. file photo

Sexual orientation noted

At an NRA conference in Fredericksburg in June, state Senator Bryce Reeves, who represents eastern Albemarle, said the agenda of the only “openly gay senator,” Adam Ebbin, is “infanticide” and gun bills, and that Dems want a “$20, $25” minimum wage, the Washington Post reports. Ebbin disputes Reeves’ characterization of his legislative goals, and says he’s “offended,” “hurt,” and “shocked” Reeves would invoke his sexual orientation.

Warmbiers want ship

The parents of UVA student Otto Warmbier have filed a claim for a North Korean cargo ship as payment on the $500 million judgment they received in the death of their son following his imprisonment in North Korea. 

Mall shooting

A shot was fired into the Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar around 11:30pm July 5. Police found a bullet hole in the window, but no one was injured. Tayveyon Laric Brown, 18, was arrected and charged with attempted malicious wounding, shooting into an occupied dwelling, discharging a firearm in the city, discharging a firearm in a street or place of public business and reckless handling of a firearm.  

Caretaker crime

Danielle Messineo, of Madison, was sentenced July 3 to 10-and-a-half years active incarceration for forging checks and stealing money from a quadraplegic relative. She was convicted of three counts of grand larceny and three counts of forgery. Her sentence exceeded the two-and-a-half years sentencing guidelines because of the victim’s vulnerability and her position of trust as a caretaker, said the judge.

Scoot on!

Electric scooters will remain another six months, but hint to riders: Stop riding them on the sidewalk and blocking pedestrian traffic.

Lime and Bird electric scooters have made over 115,000 rides and sent 32 people to the emergency room in the six months since they came to town in December. Those were a few of the details City Council learned at its June 17 meeting, where council members voted to extend the pilot scooter program—before Bird took a summer hiatus.

Charlottesville residents will now have until at least December 2019 to rent ’em and ride ’em. For a starting fare of $1 and 15 cents a minute, riders can zip around in bike lanes and streets anywhere in the city—except the Downtown Mall, a designated no-go zone. City Council also voted to expand the scooter fleet from 200 to 300.

City staff identified several concerns with the program: users riding on sidewalks, leaving scooters willy-nilly around town, and not wearing helmets. Both Lime and Bird require participants to sign a virtual agreement to wear one but, with no concrete way to enforce this rule, residents are opting to go helmet-less.

But at 700 rides a day and growing, safety concerns don’t seem to deter potential riders.

In the meantime, the committee will continue to collect data on the pilot program, and City Council will reconvene in December to decide the permanent fate of the scooter sensation.

Correction July 16: The original scooter story should have indicated the nearly 700,000 gallons Lime says it’s saved are since the company was founded, not here in Charlottesville.

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And stay out: Cantwell pleads guilty, banned from Virginia for five years

Crying Nazi Chris Cantwell bids an anti-Semitic adieu to Charlottesville. Photo by Eze Amos

Chris Cantwell, aka the Crying Nazi, came to Charlottesville a year ago to chant “Jews will not replace us” while marching through UVA Grounds. As the self-proclaimed racist shock jock was booted from Virginia July 20, he hurled a final invective at local media outside the Albemarle Circuit Court when he refused to comment to “you Jews.”

Cantwell faced two felony charges of pepper-spraying Emily Gorcenski and Kristopher Goad in front of the Rotunda at the base of the Jefferson statue August 11, 2017, where a group of around 40 counterprotesters were surrounded by several hundred tiki-torch carrying white supremacists.

The New Hampshire man was supposed to be in court July 20 for a bond hearing. Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci filed a motion to revoke Cantwell’s bond for violating the terms of his release by identifying the victims in his broadcasts. It would have been the second time he’d been brought in for bond violation. The first was a drunk in public arrest March 31 in Leesburg, where he’s been housed while awaiting trial.

Instead, Cantwell entered a guilty plea for two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. He was sentenced to two years in prison, with all but the 107 days he’d already spent in jail suspended.

He was given eight hours to get out of town—and the commonwealth—and is banned from the state for five years. He may not carry a weapon here and he’s forbidden to contact Gorcenski and Goad directly or indirectly, including through social media and radio. He was also ordered to pay $250 for doing so while out on bond.

According to Tracci, Gorcenski and Goad supported the plea agreement. Gorcenski is now living overseas, “partly as a result of harassment associated with this case,” he said.

In court, Tracci told the judge that video evidence would have shown Cantwell pepper spraying a man known only as “Beanie Man,” and that the defense would have argued Cantwell sprayed in self-defense. Gorcenski and Goad were gassed in the spray’s drift.

Little known outside the alt-right circles that listened to his “Radical Agenda” radio show, Cantwell gained more widespread notoriety when he came to Charlottesville as a speaker for last year’s Unite the Right rally, and espoused his white supremacist views to Vice reporter Elle Reeve throughout the weekend. His opinions were aired in a segment called “Charlottesville: Race and Terror.”

“We’ll fucking kill these people if we have to,” he said after the rally that left counterprotester  Heather Heyer dead and dozens more injured.

He became known as the Crying Nazi after he posted a teary YouTube video about the warrant for his arrest before turning himself in in Lynchburg.

“This agreement reflects the defendant’s acceptance of criminal responsibility for his dispersal of pepper spray on August 11, 2017,” said Tracci in a statement. The agreement does not preclude additional prosecution for conduct on that date, added the prosecutor.

Cantwell left the courthouse accompanied by mutton-chopped attorney Elmer Woodard, who’s representing several white supremacists charged following last year’s Unite the Right rally.

It was Daily Progress reporter Lauren Berg’s last day, and she filmed Cantwell’s response to a request for comment. As Woodard tipped his boater hat to the press, Cantwell answered, “You can contact me through my website instead of this gotcha garbage, you Jews.”

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In brief: Cantwell on Kessler, what stoners are ordering and more

Special delivery!

Shopping in stores is so 2015, and several Charlottesville services are making sure you never have to step foot in one again. Starting now, locals can sign up for a membership with Shipt, a virtual marketplace with same-day shipping from Target and Harris Teeter, for $99 a year or $14 a month.

GrubHub, which bought out OrderUp last year, is an existing delivery service for area restaurants and fast food joints, and a newer service, called GoPuff, seems to have its own audience in mind.

Users can order “puff stuff” such as vapes, hookah shisha and rolling papers, while also choosing from a giant selection of (non-alcoholic) “dranks,” “munchies,” “eaaats,” supplies “for the crib” such as Febreeze or something called bedroom dice, “pints on pints” of ice cream or other refreshments that are “frozen af.”

For a flat delivery fee of $1.95, the people of Charlottesville have been ordering from GoPuff, mainly between the hours of 9pm and midnight, since March, according to Elizabeth Romaine, director of communications.

“GoPuff has been very well received,” she says. “We’re super excited to be here in Char-lottesville so that we can deliver our customers what they need, when they need it most.”

We checked in to see what it is exactly that locals need the most. Here are the top 10 products ordered in Charlottesville. No, bedroom dice didn’t make the list.

Top 10

1. Nestlé Pure Life water

2. Cheez-Its

3. Pepperoni Bagel Bites

4. White Castle cheeseburgers

5. Pepperoni Hot Pockets

6. Glacier Freeze Gatorade

7. Blue raspberry Laffy Taffy

8. Honey BBQ Fritos

9. Kraft Mac & Cheese

10. Sour cream & onion Pringles

“Jason Kessler never was and never will be a leader. …Speak privately with any other organizer of [Unite the Right] and they will tell you that working with Kessler was a nightmare. Talk to Jason, and he will say the same of them.”—Chris Cantwell, aka the “Crying Nazi,” on his Radical Agenda website

In brief

30 hate charges

photo Eze Amos

James Fields, 21, the neo-Nazi from Ohio who plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters August 12, killed Heather Heyer and injured dozens, was indicted on 30 federal hate crime charges June 27. Says Attorney General Jeff Sessions, “At the Department of Justice, we remain resolute that hateful ideologies will not have the last word and that their adherents will not get away with violent crimes against those they target.”

‘Festival of the Schmestival’

Justin Beights has asked for a permit to hold a family-friendly fundraiser for about 400 people at the site of last year’s deadly Unite the Right rally on August 12. He promises a celebrity dunk tank and a petting zoo, possibly with a giraffe, if approved. “It’s funny,” he told the Daily Progress. “That’s the date that worked for us. It was kind of a coincidence.”

Million dollar message

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation will give $1 million from its “Heal Charlottesville” fund to 42 recipients in the wake of last summer’s KKK and Unite the Right rallies. The CACF saw it as an opportunity to invest in marginalized communities, says chair Jay Kessler, who is not to be confused with Jason Kessler, the man who brought the white supremacists to Charlottesville in August.

Saunders out, Curott in

Albemarle County spokesperson Jody Saunders announced her resignation effective July 6, and Albemarle police public info officer Madeline Curott has been tapped to fill in for Saunders at the County Office Building.

Packing heat

Police cited a Charlottesville man June 25 for packing a loaded .45 caliber gun in his carry-on at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport. Passengers may fly with firearms in their checked luggage if they’re unloaded and packed separately from ammo.

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In brief: Red Hen ruckus, ‘white civil rights’ rally, Republican dropout and more

The Red Hen is housed in a historic downtown Lexington building. photo News-Gazette

Red Hen refusal ignites firestorm

When two former C-VILLE Weekly writers opened the Red Hen in Lexington in 2009, they loved everything about the Rockbridge County college town—except its lack of a farm-to-table eatery. Since then, the restaurant has become a renowned fine dining option, and that could be why White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her party of eight came to dine June 22.

Stephanie Wilkinson Facebook

Owner and UVA alum Stephanie Wilkinson, who used to write about literary happenings for C-VILLE and later was publisher of Brain, Child magazine, asked Sanders to leave because of her work for “an inhumane and unethical” administration, Wilkinson told the Washington Post. [Co-founder John Blackburn is no longer an owner of the restaurant.]

Sanders confirmed on Twitter she’d been 86ed, the second Trump administration official to not be welcomed into a dining establishment in a week, although Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, another UVA alum, left a D.C. Mexican restaurant because of protesters chanting, “Shame.”

Outrage—and appreciation—over Wilkinson’s action ensued, and other unaffiliated Red Hens around the country received death threats.

By Saturday night, the Red Hen did not open because of safety concerns, according to [former C-VILLE Weekly editor] Hawes Spencer’s report on NPR. Its Yelp page is going through active cleanup because of non-food-related comments, says the site.

And by June 25, POTUS himself tweeted, “The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders.”

Trump administration employees are not alone in being unwelcome at a dining establishment. Local “white civil rights” agitator Jason Kessler reportedly was banned for life from Miller’s last year when protesters shouting “Nazi go home” became bad for business.

“An all-too-familiar story in my timeline. A beautiful woman’s life cut short by a violent relationship. The only twist today is it’s my child on the other side of the gun. My son is the perpetrator. The very thing I advocate against has been committed by someone I once carried inside me.”—Trina Murphy, advocate for Help Save the Next Girl

In brief

Xavier Grant Murphy Charlottesville police

Another Murphy tragedy

Xavier Grant Murphy, 23, son of domestic violence advocate Trina Murphy and cousin of murdered Nelson teen Alexis Murphy, is charged with second-degree murder in the June 22 slaying of Tatiana Wells, 21, at the Days Inn.

GOP resignation

Richard Allan Fox, co-owner of Roslyn Farm and Vineyard, resigned from his seat on the Albemarle County Republican Committee, because he says he can’t support U.S. Senate candidate Corey Stewart, who has not denounced Unite the Right rally participants, and who has said the Civil War was not about slavery.

ABC settles with Johnson

Martese Johnson, the 20-year-old UVA student whose encounter with Virginia ABC agents during St. Patrick’s Day revelries on the Corner in 2015 left him bloodied and under arrest, reached a $249,950 settlement with the agency June 20. Johnson, now 24, heads to University of Michigan Law School in the fall.

Cantwell calls CPD

On the same night that seven activists were arrested on Market Street for protesting the conviction of August 12 flamethrower Corey Long, “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell called the police department to commend it, chat about the rioting “communists” and suggest they be put through a woodchipper. He was recording as a female CPD employee said, “That’s awesome. Thanks for your support.” According to a city press release, the incident is being investigated.

Access denied

Community activists, some reportedly wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, were shut out of a meet-and-greet at the Paramount Theater with new Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney, who was welcomed on the theater’s marquee. Paramount spokesperson Maran Garland says it was a private, invitation-only event hosted by the Charlottesville Police Foundation.

I-64 stabber gets life

Rodney Demon Burnett was convicted of aggravated malicious wounding for the July 11, 2017, attack of a woman driver on I-64. When she stopped the car, he continued knifing her in the neck, pushed her out of the car and sped away, leaving her with life-threatening and permanent injuries. A jury imposed a maximum life sentence, $100,000 fine and seven years for other related charges.

Drafted by whom?

photo Matt Riley

Former UVA basketball guard Devon Hall is chosen by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round as the No. 53 pick.

Whites-righter seeks permit

Speaking of Kessler, the Unite the Right organizer is looking for a place to hold an anniversary rally August 11 and 12. City Manager Maurice Jones denied his application for a permit December 11, and Kessler filed a civil lawsuit against the city and Jones, alleging the denial unconstitutionally was based on the content of his speech.

On June 22, his attorneys filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to force the city to allow his two-day event and to provide security for demonstrators and the public.

According to a memo filed with the motion, Kessler contends counterprotesters were responsible for the violence. “Counterprotester misconduct constitutes a heckler’s veto and cannot be used as a justification to shut down Mr. Kessler’s speech by the city,” says the memo.

Kessler sued last year when the city tried to move his white nationalist rally from Emancipation Park to McIntire, and a judge sided with him in an August 11 decision that was made about the same time neo-Nazis were marching through UVA Grounds shouting, “Jews will not replace us.”

At press time, a hearing for the injunction had not been scheduled.

Many of those who attended the rally last year have said they will not return for a redo, but Kessler is asking those who want to come to be prepared to go to either Charlottesville or Washington.

His application for a “white civil rights rally” in Lafayette Square has received preliminary approval from the National Park Service, but a permit has not been issued.

kessler prelim injunction memo 6-22-18

kessler motion prelim injunction 6-22-18

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Federal judge to rule on motions to dismiss in August 12 victims’ case

Jim Kolenich, who represents Jason Kessler, "Crying Nazi" Chris Cantwell, Elliott Kline and multiple others in Sines v. Kessler, addresses the media outside the federal courthouse while his co-counsel Elmer Woodard gives a rare interview to a Washington Post reporter in the background. Staff photo

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of 10 alleged victims of last summer’s deadly August weekend in which hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended upon Charlottesville, a federal judge is now considering whether to grant several of the defendants’ motions to dismiss the case.

Attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn claim that 25 individuals and groups named as defendants in the suit premeditatedly conspired to commit violence at the August 12 Unite the Right rally.

Plaintiffs include victims of the Fourth Street car attack, other white supremacist violence and extreme emotional distress, including Elizabeth Sines, Marcus Martin, Marissa Blair, the Reverend Seth Wispelwey and Tyler Magill, who suffered a stroke after being beaten on August 11.

“There is one thing about this case that should be made crystal clear at the outset—the violence in Charlottesville was no accident,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants spent months carefully coordinating their efforts, on the internet and in person.”

The document quotes Unite the Right promotions that stated, “If you want to defend the South and Western civilization from the Jew and his dark-skinned allies, be at Charlottesville on 12 August,” and “Next stop: Charlottesville, VA. Final stop: Auschwitz.”

The suit further quotes one rally organizer Elliott Kline (aka Eli Mosley), who allegedly declared, “We are going to Charlottesville. Our birthright will be ashes and they’ll have to pry it from our cold hands if they want it. They will not replace us without a fight.”

Ohio-based defense attorney Jim Kolenich, who represents Kline and nearly a dozen other high-profile Unite the Righters, including Jason Kessler and “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell, argued in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia today that Kaplan and Dunn failed to prove that his clients conspired to be violent at the rally.

“There is no specific allegation in those paragraphs,” he said, adding that the only conspiracy was one “to come to Charlottesville and be provocative with their political speech.”

“Yes, they are provocative people,” Kolenich said, and noted that defendant Jeff Schoep, the neo-Nazi at the helm of the National Socialist Movement, has said if he could meet Adolf Hitler today, he’d thank him, as also referenced in the complaint.

Northern Virginia-based John DiNucci, who as of yesterday is representing Richard Spencer in the suit, made the same claim that no specific evidence pointed to Spencer’s premeditated conspiracy for violence. As did Brian Jones, a local lawyer who’s representing Michael Hill, Michael Tubbs and the League of the South.

Mike “Enoch” Peinovich,  the New Yorker who founded The Right Stuff, a right-wing media hub, and podcast The Daily Shoah, is the only defendant representing himself in the case.

“I have many opinions that people may find shocking,” he told Judge Norman Moon, but he also said there’s no evidence that he was planning to be violent at Unite the Right, and though the lawsuit points out that he announced the rally on his podcast and his name appeared on rally fliers, Peinovich said that’s “just First Amendment stuff.”

To combat the claims that the suit’s defendants weren’t the ones who conspired to do harm, Kaplan told the judge, “We carefully chose the 25 defendants we did. …We went after the leaders.”

She said her team is still gathering evidence from sites that alt-right leaders used to plan for the rally, such as Discord, where they often use screen names to conceal their identities.

When she gave the real-life screen name example of “Chef Goyardee,” Peinovich shook with laughter. She also referred to internet conversation about running counterprotesters over with vehicles, which she said the alt-right has since denounced as an “edgy joke.”

“We believe that what we have here is just the tip of the iceberg,” she said.

Kolenich, who admitted during the hearing that he doesn’t know which Confederate general’s statue is causing such a ruckus in Charlottesville, said outside the courthouse that the judge should have a ruling within 30 days.

Beside him, his co-counsel gave a rare interview with Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira.

Said Elmer Woodard, the Blairs, Virginia, attorney who’s recently spent quite a bit of time in Charlottesville defending white supremacists at the state level, “I represent murderers, drug dealers and perverts, but I’m not one of them.”

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Guilty: First August 12 parking garage beater convicted

Jacob Goodwin, one of four men charged in the beating of DeAndre Harris August 12, was found guilty of malicious wounding. Charlottesville police

 

A Charlottesville jury decided May 1 that a man from Ward, Arkansas, who took part in a brutal beatdown of a local black man in the Market Street Parking Garage on August 12, was guilty of malicious wounding, potentially setting the bar for three other assailants accused of the same crime in the same incident, and who are set to go on trial in the very near future.

In videos from the Unite the Right rally that have since been viewed tens of thousands of times, Jacob Goodwin can be seen wearing all black tactical gear, a helmet, goggles, and two pins—one that said “88,” or code for “Heil Hitler,” and one with the logo of the Traditionalist Worker Party—and carrying a shield when kicking DeAndre Harris multiple times among a gaggle of other white supremacists.

Jurors were visibly disturbed while watching.

“He has yet to express any regret for his actions that day,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania, when asking the jury to consider a jail sentence recommendation. “And I would submit he has none.”

The man identified as a self-described white rights activist in an NBC documentary sat in court wearing a suit and tie and with a long, brown braided ponytail. During his testimony, he said he thought he was being attacked by Harris, and he was using his feet to defend himself.

“To be honest, I was terrified,” he said, adding that he thought he’d be sent to the hospital “terribly hurt,” or that he might even “perish.”

The jury of nine women and three men didn’t buy it, and they recommended giving Goodwin a 10-year sentence with perhaps some time suspended, a $25,000 fine and empathy training. Judge Rick Moore set an official sentencing for August 23.

Goodwin’s mother had her head in her hands when defense attorney Elmer Woodard wrapped up his closing argument, in which he insisted that Goodwin was legally allowed to defend himself from a perceived threat, which protects the Arkansas man from being convicted of malicious wounding. For that specific charge, a prosecutor must show an attempt to kill, maim or disable, or evidence of ill will or spite, according to the attorneys.

“They want you to convict this man because he’s a white man and DeAndre’s a black man,” Woodard said to the jury. The white man’s parents and a handful of other supporters, including Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, were present for the two-day trial.

So were community members who have aggressively praised Harris for his fight against white supremacy that day in August, and who demanded that Platania drop a malicious wounding charge that Harris was initially given from the event, when he allegedly bashed a man in the head with a Maglite moments before he was beaten to the ground.

Harris’ charge was amended to assault and he was acquitted in Charlottesville General District Court in March.

Woodard argued that while his client was wearing armor, the Maglite and towel Harris carried were the real weapons, and that the man beaten by white supremacists was the true aggressor.

“Body armor’s a defensive thing,” said Woodard. “Nobody ever got beaten to death with body armor.”

And while the defense attorney argued several times that Harris’ most significant injuries, such as the head laceration that required eight stitches, were a result of the other men involved and not Goodwin, Nina-Alice Antony, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney, said they were acting in concert.

“Each person is responsible, not just for his specific action, but the action of the group,” she said, adding that concert of action can happen in an instant, even between people who are unknown to each other. “You don’t have to have a handshake agreement before that.”

The three other men charged with malicious wounding in the parking garage beatdown are Alex Ramos, Daniel Borden and Tyler Watkins Davis. Ramos goes on trial today.

Woodardisms

Attorney Elmer Woodard. Photo Natalie Jacobsen

This Blairs, Virginia, attorney was largely unknown in the Charlottesville area until he began representing a bevy of white supremacists with Unite the Right-related charges, including Jacob Goodwin, “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell and Richard Preston, the KKK leader charged with firing his gun on August 12. Now he’s one of the most talked about defenders in town. Here’s what he had to say at Goodwin’s May 1 trial:

”Gravity applies to DeAndre just like it applies to you and me.”

—on why Harris didn’t fall back down, but rather stood up after the prosecutor argued that Goodwin kicked him so hard that he lifted off the ground

“Why DeAndre, you have upset me.”

—on what Goodwin would have said if he truly felt anger, and was acting out of malice

“Is it concert of action to stand in the Hardee’s line together?”

—on how people who don’t know each other can act together and share similar views

”If it’s raining, you put on a raincoat. If there’s fighting, you put on a helmet.”

—on why Goodwin was wearing tactical gear and a helmet

 

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Booze bracelet: Cantwell’s public intoxication charge violates terms of bond

Crying Nazi Chris Cantwell bids an anti-Semitic adieu to Charlottesville. Photo by Eze Amos

“Drunk,” “loaded” and “liquored up” were all words used in Albemarle County Circuit Court to describe the state of “Crying Nazi” Chris Cantwell during his Loudoun County arrest last month that nearly landed the self-proclaimed racist back in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

At an April 25 hearing, Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci said good behavior was a condition of the $25,000 bond Cantwell was granted in December. He has been ordered to stay in Leesburg while he awaits his trial for allegedly pepper spraying two people at the August 11 torch-lit white supremacist rally on UVA Grounds.

The New Hampshire man was allegedly carrying a can of tactical pepper spray when he walked in front of traffic and was nearly struck by two vehicles. He was charged with public swearing and intoxication March 31 in Leesburg, according to Tracci.

Cantwell called it a “gross exaggeration,” and said he was walking from Bunker Sports Cafe to his residence, which is less than a mile away. He entered a 7-Eleven, and he claims he said, “Don’t buy cigarettes, stupid,” aloud to himself in front of police, and was arrested outside the store.

“Did he misbehave and get liquored up? Sure,” said his attorney, Elmer Woodard. “But that doesn’t mean he’s a threat to the public.”

Judge Cheryl Higgins found it to be a violation of his bond, and ordered Cantwell to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet along with the GPS monitor he already wears. He may not consume any more alcohol while out on bond.

During the hearing, a police officer testified he was contacted by an FBI agent who believed Cantwell had exceeded the 22-mile radius he’s allowed to roam, but Jeff Lenert, a partner at Central Virginia Monitoring, testified that none of the data he collected in March showed Cantwell out of his permitted zone.

Tracci also argued that Cantwell was using social media to threaten and intimidate others, including the victims of his pending criminal case.

The prosecutor showed the judge a photo that Cantwell reposted on the web of a little girl who appeared to be protesting gun violence at the March for Our Lives, and who held a sign that said, “Am I next?” Cantwell’s online response? “One can hope.”

Another post referred to gassing “kikes and trannies.”

“I make jokes for a living,” Cantwell told the judge. “It’s what I do. I’m a professional entertainer.”

Woodard called Emily Gorcenski to the stand, who is a victim in the pepper spray accusation. He asked her to state her name and immediately excused her.

Higgins was quick to reprimand Woodard, and the attorney said he was simply proving that Gorcenski wasn’t too intimidated by Cantwell to come to his hearing.

Said Higgins, “Maybe because there are four bailiffs here.”

She ordered that Cantwell may not contact the victims in the case, refer to them on the web or use direct or indirect intimidation or threat tactics.

Woodard said the order infringed on Cantwell’s First Amendment rights and noted that Gorcenski is permitted to continue posting anything she wants about Cantwell. The attorney asked his client if there are also people who criticize him online.

Said Cantwell, “That would be the understatement of the century.”

Higgins also granted Tracci’s motion to quash Woodard’s request for all electronic data and conversations between the two victims in Cantwell’s case. The judge called it a “fishing expedition” and ordered the complainants to only provide the photos and videos they used to identify Cantwell as their attacker.

His trial is set for August 13.

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In brief: Taking back their streets, Cockburn controversy, Cantwell returns and more

Skyclad AP.com

Calming effect

“That’s the reason we did this—people fly down the street,” says Shawnee West as she watches a car drive through the intersection of Little High and 11th streets.

West is standing at the edge of the circular traffic-calming mural she designed with the help of one of her neighbors. Last fall, West and dozens of her neighbors painted the geometric eight-petal blue flower with pink-and-white butterflies surrounding it. The color scheme was inspired by the mural on the adjacent Charlottesville Day School. Some of the children who helped signed their names along one of the outer rings.

West, who spent about a month gathering signatures from neighbors for a project petition she then submitted to the city, says this intersection is a particularly dangerous one because it’s a main thoroughfare for both city and school buses, but is only a two-way stop. Neighbors asked for four stop signs but were denied. She says they’ve also tried to garner enough support to petition for speed bumps on both Little High and East Jefferson streets.

“Of course we dread the worst thing that could happen,” she says. “People wait until there’s a serious crisis before anyone does anything and we’re trying to prevent that.”

West and her fellow Little High residents will give the mural a second coat of paint in May, to ensure their efforts have a lasting effect.

“When you do something, people want to help, they want to be part of something,” she says. “And to be part of a community of people who say, ‘What can I do?’—it’s great.”

“Local news comment sections prove that SATAN IS REAL, Y’ALL.”—Congregate C’ville’s Brittany Caine-Conley on Twitter in response to the web comments on C-VILLE’s story, “Still here: White supremacy strikes again.”

Dem caucusers

Localities in the 5th District held caucuses last week that gave Leslie Cockburn enough delegates to secure the nomination at its convention in Farmville May 5 to challenge Representative Tom Garrett in November, according to an unofficial tally.

Leslie Cockburn at the Charlottesville Democratic caucus April 21. Photo Natalie Jacobsen

Dem discord

The chair of the Greene County Democrats, Elizabeth Alcorn, announced her resignation April 21 and cited violation of campaign rules by Cockburn staff, who were asked to stop campaigning at the Madison County caucus, where Alcorn was an official. One of them was black and Cockburn accused the Madison caucus officials of a “racist incident,” according to Alcorn’s resignation letter.

TMI

Some Western Albemarle parents were hot and bothered over Laci Green’s video.

After the Sexual Assault Resource Agency showed a video on male sexual pleasure to Western Albemarle High School students, upset parents complained, and the school axed its years-long relationship with the nonprofit. County schools spokesperson Phil Giaramita says the video wasn’t reviewed first, but SARA documented the approval of its sex ed curriculum by the head P.E. teacher.

Crying in his beer?

Chris Cantwell, aka the Crying Nazi, was arrested March 31 in Loudoun County for public intoxication. Cantwell was out on $25,000 bond for alleged use of tear gas at the August 11 tiki torch march through UVA. He’ll be back in Albemarle Circuit Court April 26 for a judge to reconsider his bond.

Coach convicted

Charlottesville High School track coach Melvin Carter was sentenced to 180 days of suspended jail time April 20 when he pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a juvenile. The incident did not take place on school ground, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania.

Pilot identified

Kent D. Carr, 51, of Staunton was the pilot of the Cessna that crashed into Bucks Elbow Mountain in Crozet on April 15. Says his obituary, “He loved aviation and was flying home at the time.”

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In brief: #counciloutofcontrol, billionaire’s arrearage, Wegmans trail hub and more

Photo Eze Amos

Out of order

Everyone was ordered out of City Council chambers when the April 2 meeting spiraled out of control following public comments from Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler and Confederate statue shroud-rippers Brian Lambert and Chris Wayne. In a closed session, councilors sought legal advice on dealing with disruptive attendees, such as Tanesha Hudson, who is beside the police officer (above) and who continued to interrupt councilors during a discussion about West2nd. “Tanesha, we’re going to have to move you out,” threatened Mayor Nikuyah Walker.

“While it has been better, it has been very difficult to conduct the meetings and have business take place.”—Mayor Nikuyah Walker after clearing the chamber during the April 2 out-of-control City Council meeting

Adoption nightmare

Virginia Media Relations

The abrupt March 20 resignation of former UVA women’s basketball coach Joanne Boyle, 54, for a family matter was because she has to take her 6-year-old daughter, Ngoty, back to Senegal to finalize her adoption, a process that could take months—or years, the Washington Post reports.

Eyes in the sky

Charlottesville will install seven security cameras in a four-block area near City Hall and the Market Street Garage for $54,000. The cameras will not be monitored in real time and images will be stored for 30 days. Former police chief Tim Longo first called for 30 cameras on the mall in 2007, but cost and privacy concerns stymied them.

Scofflaw governor

Billionaire West Virginia Governor Jim Justice is in arrears on property taxes he owes in Albemarle County to the tune of $148,000. Justice bought 4,500 acres in southeastern Albemarle in 2010 from MeadWestvaco for $23.75 million. Justice reportedly has stiffed West Virginia and Kentucky on taxes as well.

Latest U.S. attorney

Thomas T. Cullen, 40, of Roanoke was sworn in March 30 as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, a position that’s been open since John Fishwick resigned in early 2017.

Unhappy hour

Chef Geoff Tracy sues the Virginia ABC for restrictions that prohibit publicizing the price of drink specials at his Tysons Corner restaurants—although he can do so at his Maryland and D.C. restaurants.

Friendly with the feds

“Crying Nazi” Christopher Cantwell, who faces charges from the summer’s tiki torch march on Grounds, has written recent blog posts titled “I Am A Federal Informant” and “Why I’m Talking to the Feds,” detailing his quest for revenge on anti-fascist groups. Adds Cantwell, “Maybe the feds fuck me over. It’s a distinct possibility. But I’m DEFINITELY getting fucked by Charlottesville.”

Pound o’ meth

When Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement officers arrested Ersy Alejandro Hernandez on March 23 on an outstanding warrant for sexual battery, they found 458 grams of meth and 28 grams of coke on him, valued at $15,275 and $1,250, respectively. He was charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 10 grams of meth.

Feeling connected

Albemarle County officials have long preached a doctrine of interconnectivity, but a vision of trail biking and walking is more than just a prayer.

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, which won nearly $500,000 for the project from VDOT in 2016, has revealed its first look at a “trail hub” that would connect multiple current and future pathways near 5th Street Station—the county’s newest shopping center anchored by Wegmans.

The trail system will be located to the east of Fifth Street Extended and north of Interstate 64, with the newly acquired Biscuit Run Park to the south. The Rivanna Trail to the city’s Azalea Park will border the west.

Local architecture firm Land Planning & Design Associates Inc. has had a heavy hand in designing the project.

“LPDA is enthusiastic about this project, which combines pedestrian connectivity, placemaking, amenity design and recreation planning,” says manager Jessica Mauzy. “[It’s] a key building block in the alternative transportation network in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.”