Opening statements begin in 'Unite the Right' rally trial
EVANS: To be honest, it's been so difficult to sit through these opening arguments. They played audio and video of all of the events of August 11 and 12. And it may be difficult to hear, but I'm going to describe some of it now. Extremists are screaming, chanting racist phrases and slogans like, Jews will not replace us. And when they broadcast a recording of avowed neo-Nazi James Alex Fields driving his car into protesters, you could hear the sound of bodies hitting the hood of the car. I had to take a break from this.
Back in 2016, Charlottesville was considering taking down Confederate statues, and these white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups started filtering into the city to protest their removal. And it all came to a head in August of 2017 when violence broke out in the streets. Fields killed one woman and injured others with his car. A group of those residents who were injured filed a lawsuit against the organizers. They claim they conspired amongst each other in violation of state and federal law to commit that violence.
Well, they say they have ample evidence to prove the defendants - which includes Richard Spencer, who's known for coining the term alt-right, and the Ku Klux Klan and Vanguard America - planned and promoted the violence. They've been collecting evidence over the last four years and have constructed sort of a web to show how the defendants, of which there were more than 20, are all connected to each other and also connected to the violence. For at least one longtime local activist, this case is clear-cut. Jalane Schmidt, who is also a professor here at the University of Virginia, says it was obvious when many of these far-right groups began gathering in town long before the infamous rally.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.