In
November 2021, a federal jury found the organizers of the "Unite
the Right" rally liable for injuries sustained by
counter-protesters and awarded about $24 million in punitive
damages and $2 million in compensatory damages.
U.S. District Judge Norman Moon, however, ordered that the $24
million in punitive damages be reduced to $350,000, Virginia's
statutory cap on punitive damages, according to a court filing
of his opinion dated Dec. 30 and released on Wednesday. He
upheld the $2 million in compensatory damages.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they were considering
appealing the decision by Moon.
The nine plaintiffs in the case had said they suffered physical
or emotional trauma at the rally, including four who were hit
when self-described neo-Nazi James Fields drove his car into a
crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
The rally followed months of protests over the city's plan to
remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Hundreds
of white nationalists traveled to Charlottesville in August
2017, with some marching on the University of Virginia campus
carrying torches and chanting "Jews will not replace us!"
Then-President Donald Trump was criticized for initially saying
there were "fine people on both sides" after the rally devolved
into violent clashes.
President Joe Biden has frequently cited the torch-lit march and
Trump's response as the event that precipitated his decision to
mount another run for the White House, after two previous
unsuccessful campaigns.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Sandra
Maler)
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