By Denise Lavoie -
The Associated Press
A jury on Tuesday forced the leaders of a white supremacist organization to compensate with 25 million dollars for damages caused during the extremist Unite the Right march held in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
After a civil trial of almost a month in the district court of that city, the jury however came to a standstill on the accusation that this group of racists, nationalists and neo-Nazis had conspired to commit violent acts.
They were, however, found guilty on four counts in the lawsuit filed by nine people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the two days of demonstrations.
The verdict is thus a blow to the white nationalist movement, especially to the two dozen individuals and organizations that were charged in this federal lawsuit with
orchestrating violent acts against blacks
, Jews and other minorities.
A jury began deliberations on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, in a civil trial of white nationalists accused of conspiring to commit violence.Steve Helber / AP
The plaintiffs' lawyers invoked a 150-year-old law, passed after the Civil War, to protect freed slaves from violence and protect their civil rights.
Known as the
Ku Klux Klan Act, it
contains a rarely used provision that allows private citizens to sue other citizens for civil rights violations.