White nationalists ordered to pay additional $2 million for violence in Charlottesville rally

A panel of judges ordered white nationalist leaders and organizations involved in the Charlottesville, Virginia, Unite the Right rally to pay an additional $2 million in damages to people with physical or emotional injuries from the event.

In 2021, those involved with the rally were ordered to pay $26 million for damages. Most of that, $24 million, was for for punitive damages, but a judge later slashed that to $350,000 to be shared among eight plaintiffs, citing a state law. On Monday, a three-judge panel for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals restored the jury’s award of $2 million in punitive damages but found that a state law that imposes the $350,000 cap on punitive damages should be applied per person instead of for all eight plaintiffs.

Now each plaintiff will receive $350,000, instead of the $43,750 they were each set to get under the lower court’s ruling.

“Over two years ago, the jury used its $24 million punitive damages award to send an unmistakable message to the defendants and to the public about the outrageous misconduct that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. While the law compels us to reduce the award, it’s long past time for that message to be delivered,” Chief Judge Albert Diaz wrote in the 3-0 ruling.

The ruling comes from a federal lawsuit against two dozen white nationalists and organizations. The rally was prompted after the Charlottesville City Council announced it planned to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The rally was deemed an unlawful demonstration by its second day. James Alex Fields Jr., a white supremacist hailing from Ohio, intentionally drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. His actions killed one woman and injured dozens more.

Alex Fields Jr. was one of the defendants in the civil case and is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence for murder and hate crimes.

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Attorneys on behalf of the plaintiffs signaled they were pleased with the increased settlement.

“Today’s decision restores over $2 million in punitive damages from the jury’s verdict, which sent a clear message against racist and antisemitic hate and violence,” attorneys Roberta Kaplan, David E. Mills, and Gabrielle E. Tenzer said in a statement.