DRC congratulates Roberta Kaplan, Karen Dunn, Alan Levine, Michael Bloch, Jessica Phillips, Julie Fink, William A. Isaacson, Integrity First for America, and the entire trial team on their $25 million verdict in favor of the Plaintiffs in Sines et al. v. Kessler, et al., No. 3:17-cv-00072-NKM (W.D. Va.). The case was brought against the organizers of the violent "Unite the Right" rally that took place in August 2017, when hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis flocked to Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the city's decision to remove a monument of General Robert E. Lee from a park.
On August 11, 2017, these hate groups marched through the streets of Charlottesville with torches and violently surrounded a group of anti-racist counter-protesters, including students and members of the community, on the University of Virginia campus. On August 12, they marched again, attacking and assaulting countless citizens. The violence culminated with James Alex Fields Jr. driving his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.
The Defendants were two dozen prominent white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and hate groups that the Plaintiffs alleged planned, promoted, and executed the violent acts in Charlottesville.
The Plaintiffs were members of the Charlottesville community who peacefully counter protested when white supremacists invaded their hometown. They were targeted with violence on the basis of their race, religion, and ethnicity or because they stood up for the safety and civil rights of others.
Plaintiffs brought claims under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act and related state laws on the theory that Defendants had conspired to engage in violence against racial minorities and their supporters. During the trial, Plaintiffs laid out their case that the Unite the Right rally planning amounted to a conspiracy to plan, promote, and carry out the violent events, based on the more than 5.3 terabytes of evidence they collected, including social media posts and Discord chat room exchanges.
After four weeks of evidence and three days of deliberations, the jury found for the Plaintiffs on four counts, including civil conspiracy under Virginia law. The jury found that the violence, suffering, and emotional distress that occurred in Charlottesville was a direct, intended, and foreseeable result of the Defendants' unlawful conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence. As a result, the jury awarded Plaintiffs more than $25 million in damages. DRC assisted the trial team pro bono with a supplemental juror questionnaire and jury selection.
Sines v. Kessler aimed to hold violent white nationalists accountable, and the jury's verdict resoundingly affirms that Americans are not afraid to stand up to violence and hate.