Jurors deliberate claims against white nationalists
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Jurors on Monday finished their second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in the trial of white nationalists accused of conspiring to commit racially motivated violence at the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
The jury has deliberated for about 15 hours over two days. Jurors indicated Monday that they may be having trouble reaching a unanimous verdict on several allegations in a suit filed by nine people who were physically hurt or emotionally traumatized by the violence.
Jurors are being asked to decide whether white supremacists, neo-Nazis and white nationalist organizations are responsible for violence during two days of demonstrations. In addition to deciding whether the defendants are liable on six claims, jurors will also decide if the defendants are liable for compensatory and punitive damages for nine people who filed a federal lawsuit after they suffered physical or psychological injuries.
At about noon on Monday, the jury sent a note asking Judge Norman Moon: “If we cannot come to a unanimous decision on the first three claims, do we still decide on Claims 4, 5 and 6?” Moon told lawyers that he would tell the jury to continue to try to come to a unanimous verdict.
Moon also extended an order prohibiting the parties and their attorneys from disclosing the names of the jurors, saying there is reason to believe “the jury needs protection,” according to a case filing.
Hundreds of white nationalists descended on Charlottesville on Aug. 11-12, 2017, ostensibly to protest the city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
During a march on the University of Virginia grounds, white nationalists surrounded counterprotesters, shouted “Jews will not replace us!” and threw burning tiki torches at them. The next day, an avowed admirer of Adolf Hitler intentionally drove his car into a crowd, killing one woman and injuring 19.
James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, is serving life in prison for murder and hate crimes for the car attack. He is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs are relying in part on a 150-year-old law passed after the Civil War to shield freed slaves from violence and protect their civil rights. Commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, the law contains a provision that allows private citizens to sue other citizens for civil rights violations.