(CNN)Opening statements began Thursday in the civil lawsuit filed against organizers of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia -- four years after one person died and dozens were injured in the chaos that ensued as White nationalists, White supremacists and counterprotesters clashed.
The violence -- which surrounded a rally to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee -- reached a crescendo when James Fields, who was protesting the statue's removal, drove his car through a crowd of counterprotesters, injuring dozens and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Fields is serving two concurrent life sentences.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who include city residents and counterprotesters injured in two days of clashes, laid out an overview of their case, which contends the organizers of the rally engaged in a conspiracy.
The plaintiffs, represented by a large team of powerful lawyers with the nonprofit Integrity First for America, are seeking compensatory and statutory damages for physical and emotional injuries they say they suffered.
We are going to show you that the defense came to Charlottesville with a plan for violence with racial and religious hatred," attorney Karen Dunn said Thursday, "and that they used race and religious hatred to motivate others to join."
Among the defendants are 14 named individuals, including Fields, rally organizer Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer -- the lead organizer for the August 11 torchlight rally -- and Christopher Cantwell, who became the face of the rally after being featured in a Vice documentary.
The suit also names 10 White supremacist and nationalist organizations, including Moonbase Holdings LLC, the company that runs the Daily Stormer website; the League of the South, the Nationalist Socialist Movement and at least two chapters of the KKK.
The defendants say they did not initiate the deadly violence that ensued; they argue they were exercising their First Amendment right to protest. They also say there was no conspiracy and that the violence stemmed from law enforcement's failure to keep the opposing groups separated.
"My attendance, my intention to speak boldly -- it is implied that this led to chaos, that I am somehow liable for injury by my mere presence at the event," Spencer said during his opening statement. "That is not fair, that is not an accurate application of the law and, to be honest, on some level, that is not serious."
Twelve jurors were selected this week over three days.
CONTINUED:
Charlottesville Unite the Right trial: Jury hears opening statements over whether rally was intended to spur violence - CNN
The violence -- which surrounded a rally to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee -- reached a crescendo when James Fields, who was protesting the statue's removal, drove his car through a crowd of counterprotesters, injuring dozens and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Fields is serving two concurrent life sentences.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who include city residents and counterprotesters injured in two days of clashes, laid out an overview of their case, which contends the organizers of the rally engaged in a conspiracy.
The plaintiffs, represented by a large team of powerful lawyers with the nonprofit Integrity First for America, are seeking compensatory and statutory damages for physical and emotional injuries they say they suffered.
We are going to show you that the defense came to Charlottesville with a plan for violence with racial and religious hatred," attorney Karen Dunn said Thursday, "and that they used race and religious hatred to motivate others to join."
Among the defendants are 14 named individuals, including Fields, rally organizer Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer -- the lead organizer for the August 11 torchlight rally -- and Christopher Cantwell, who became the face of the rally after being featured in a Vice documentary.
The suit also names 10 White supremacist and nationalist organizations, including Moonbase Holdings LLC, the company that runs the Daily Stormer website; the League of the South, the Nationalist Socialist Movement and at least two chapters of the KKK.
The defendants say they did not initiate the deadly violence that ensued; they argue they were exercising their First Amendment right to protest. They also say there was no conspiracy and that the violence stemmed from law enforcement's failure to keep the opposing groups separated.
"My attendance, my intention to speak boldly -- it is implied that this led to chaos, that I am somehow liable for injury by my mere presence at the event," Spencer said during his opening statement. "That is not fair, that is not an accurate application of the law and, to be honest, on some level, that is not serious."
Twelve jurors were selected this week over three days.
CONTINUED:
Charlottesville Unite the Right trial: Jury hears opening statements over whether rally was intended to spur violence - CNN
