Kessler’s flop: D.C. shows up to show white supremacy out

An estimated 15,000 protesters. Thousands of signs and flags. Hundreds of cops. All of which made their presence known from Freedom Plaza to Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., all day long on Sunday, August 12—to face down barely more than two dozen white nationalists. Just before noon, leaders of nearly 40 anti-racist groups set their […]

Permit-less: Kessler withdraws motion for August 11-12 rallies

After plaintiff Jason Kessler showed up 45 minutes late to federal court for his own motion to order Charlottesville to grant him a permit to hold an event the weekend of August 12, it took the judge about two seconds to grant Kessler’s attorney’s request to withdraw the motion. “He’s not going to hold a […]

Not healed: #ResilientCville showcases residents’ distrust of officials

By Jonathan Haynes Indignation hung in the air during the July 12 city-sponsored #ResilientCville event as around 150 Charlottesville residents filed into the pews of Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church to confront a panel of public officials about the city’s failure to contain white supremacists on August 11 and 12. The crowded panel—consisting of […]

Inciting words: Kessler gets a win and $5

In a civil suit against an angry activist, Unite the Right rally organizer Jason Kessler has won $5. The man who planned the August 12 event where neo-Nazis and counterprotesters clashed in the streets, leaving three people dead by the end of the day, said his suit was intended to bring “decorum.” He sued Donna […]

Federal judge to rule on motions to dismiss in August 12 victims’ case

In a lawsuit filed on behalf of 10 alleged victims of last summer’s deadly August weekend in which hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended upon Charlottesville, a federal judge is now considering whether to grant several of the defendants’ motions to dismiss the case. Attorneys Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn claim that 25 individuals […]

Activist-theologian: Kessler protester talks about trespassing arrest

When about 40 protesters gathered at the University of Virginia School of Law library in April to chase off Jason Kessler, one man was arrested—and it wasn’t the one who brought hundreds of torch-wielding white supremacists to Grounds last summer. As Kessler sat doing legal research for his upcoming lawsuits in a room that wasn’t […]

Kessler alert: UVA law library hits the books in search of ban

By Natalie Jacobsen A tale of two incidents at the University of Virginia School of Law library has prompted the administration to restrict access to students-only for the exam period, which ends May 11. On April 18, Charlottesville’s embattled whites-righter, Jason Kessler, entered the school’s library and plopped down in a central location to do […]