Charlottesville Car Suspect AND Alt-Right Leaders Face $3M Lawsuit from 2 people who were injured

[kpete]

BREAKING: #Cville car suspect, #UniteTheRight rally organizer, & alt-right leaders face $3M lawsuit from 2 ppl injured in car attack

Link to tweet

Two people involved in the fatal car crash Saturday have filed a lawsuit against Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, James Alex Fields Jr. and 31 others.

Tadrint Washington and Micah Washington, the plaintiffs who were in a car that was hit during the attack Saturday, are seeking $3 million in damages.


MORE:
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/m-lawsuit-filed-against-kessler-fields-and-others-after-fatal/article_a024d09c-81ea-11e7-992f-c3882c7102c9.html

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (WWBT) -
Two people who were injured in the attack in Charlottesville during protests over the weekend are now suing a long list of people - including the alleged attacker and the "Unite the Right" organizer - for $3 million.

Tadrint and Micah Washington filed the suit in Charlottesville Circuit Court. The defendants include James Alex Fields Jr., the man accused of driving his vehicle into a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring more than a dozen others; Jason Kessler, the organizer for the "Unite the Right" rally that turned violent; and a list of several conservative and alt-right groups and people.

The victims were in the car that the suspect's car crashed into while plowing through a group of protesters on Saturday. They are claiming serious injuries from the attack, as well as civil conspiracy and negligence from the organizers.

Drew Wilder will have more on the lawsuit coming up on NBC12 News at 5.

http://www.nbc12.com/story/36141009/unite-the-right-organizer-accused-charlottesville-attacker-named-in-3m-lawsuit

[Foamfollower]

1. Foreseeable Consequence

This is a good lawsuit and the Plaintiffs stand a good chance of winning.

[Duppers]

2. Was hoping this would come.

[ProudLib72]

3. Spencer will have to get his first real job to pay for this

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. That's how the Southern Poverty Law Center bankrupted Aryan Nations.

...there was an even more pivotal event in the history of Aryan Nations. That’s when Butler’s security guards chased down a woman and her son after their car backfired while driving near the Aryan Nations compound. The guards forced their car into a ditch and assaulted them. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued on behalf of the victims, and in September 2000, a jury issued a judgment of $6.3 million against the defendants.

Butler was responsible for $4.8 million of the judgment because he had hired ex-convicts as guards, provided them no training and allowed them to carry assault weapons. Butler was forced to relinquish his 20-acre compound at a bankruptcy auction. The guard tower was subsequently demolished and the church and meeting hall burned to the ground during a firefighter drill. The property was bought by a philanthropist who turned it over to the North Idaho College Foundation.

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/aryan-nations

[VermontKevin]

6. I think this case is more on point:

https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/anderson-v-hale-and-world-church-creator


Anderson v. Hale and World Church of the Creator is a civil rights case in which Reverend Stephen Anderson sued the World Church of the Creator, charging them with advocating a “Racial Holy War” that incited a man’s murderous rampage.

On April 4, 2000, CCR filed a civil rights suit on behalf of Reverend Stephen Anderson in Chicago federal court against Matthew Hale, the leader of the World Church of the Creator, and the estate of Benjamin Smith, who shot Reverend Anderson three times. The suit, which was filed under the federal Ku Klux Klan Act and the Illinois Hate Crimes Act, charged that Hale conspired with Smith to violate the civil rights of Reverend Anderson on the basis of his race.

On July 3, 1999, Reverend Anderson, who is Black, was shot three times while he was standing in the driveway of his home in Decatur, Illinois. The man who shot him, Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, was a complete stranger who went on a three-day-shooting spree that left two people dead and nine people wounded. Smith was an active member of the World Church of the Creator, a white supremacist hate group based in Peoria, Illinois that was led by Matthew Hale, its so-called “Pontifex Maximus.” The church advocated a “Racial Holy War,” which it defined as a “total war against the Jews and the rest of the goddamned mud races of the world.” Each of Smith’s targets was Black, Asian American, or Jewish, and several were shot near their synagogue or church. Smith’s murderous rampage came to an end when he took his own life as the police were about to apprehend him. Following Smith’s shooting spree, Hale failed to express compassion for Smith’s victims or their families. Rather, Hale stated that he was happy with Smith’s zealotry for the church’s cause and applauded Smith for dying a “martyr for free speech for white people.”

Rather than risk a court determination, defendants elected to discuss an out-of-court settlement.

Last modified: October 9, 2007

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. That's another good one, but what I like about the SPLC case

is that it resulted in a very large jury verdict for the plaintiffs and ended up causing the collapse of the Aryan nations organization. Anderson v. Hale was grounded in a claim of incitement, but it was settled. The precedent and possibility of a huge jury verdict should be more daunting.

[VermontKevin]

12. I agree that the impact of the verdict is more threatening, but I think Anderson

is closer to the fact pattern here.

I'm hoping some of the John and Jane Does have an address at 1600 Pennsylvania.

[obamanut2012]

8. Beat me to this -- exactly!

[VermontKevin]

5. Good!!! I posted about suing these Nazis in this thread about Greenwald:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029460655

[obamanut2012]

7. Waiting for that scum Jason Kessler and Rochard Spencer to get hit with a conspiracy charge

That and civil suits to bankrupt ALL of them! hahahahahahahaha

[smirkymonkey]

9. This is the best way to get to them.

Hit them where it hurts.

[BigmanPigman]

10. Why only two? All those who were injured should be suing too.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. Who says they won't?

These two plaintiffs are suing together because their claims are based on similar facts. Other plaintiffs might have somewhat similar claims but the underlying facts (location, people involved, etc.) could be different enough that they either want to or have to file separate lawsuits. Some people are probably still in the process of investigating and collecting information. Having written up complaints myself, I can tell you that it takes awhile and involves some work, and you have to be able to have a reasonable belief that there is evidence supporting the claims - so unless you have a big support staff to put them together these things don't usually get filed as quickly as this one.

[haveahart]

14. Maybe trump will pay the legal fees for the defendents? (From now on, no Capital letter for trump).

My silent protest.

[dalton99a]

15. Good start

[Gothmog]

16. The SPLC used this type of lawsuit to bankrupt the KKK and the Aryan Nation