Columbus Jewish News: Spitalnick describes landmark Charlottesville case

By Jane Kaufman, Columbus Jewish News. Read the full article here. 

Amy Spitalnick, who helped win a $26 million landmark federal civil lawsuit against the perpetrators of violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville Aug. 11 and 12, 2017, said the case included “gut-wrenching” testimony from victims as well as attempts by defendants to desensitize the jury by using the N-word and making Holocaust jokes.

At the trial for what is known as Sines v. Kessler, some perpetrators served as their own counsel, meaning they directly questioned and cross-examined witnesses they had terrorized, Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America, told about 125 participants at the virtual event “Taking Violent White Supremacy to Court: the Charlottesville Trial.”

The event centered around a discussion between Spitalnick and moderator Steve Dettelbach, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. It was held jointly by AJC Cleveland, NAACP Cleveland Branch, Park Synagogue and the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. Dettelbach was nominated by President Joe Biden April 11 to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Spitalnick called the experience of watching the trial “horrifying,” which she largely observed from a hotel room with plaintiffs because of limited space in the courtroom.

“Many of us remember the visceral feeling of watching neo-Nazis with tiki torches chanting things like ‘Jews will not replace us’ and ‘blood and soil,’ ‘white lives matter’ or marching on the University of Virginia grounds, where they first terrorized students and faculty who were in their dorm rooms on the lawn, and ultimately surrounded a small group of peaceful counter protesters,” she said.

Spitalnick said the protesters came “under the guise” of protesting the removal of statues depicting Confederate leaders. Privately, she said organizers referred to the event as “the Battle of Charlottesville.”

“It was never the true purpose for the weekend,” she said. “The purpose was always intended to be racism, antisemitism and violence.”

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