,
16 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
we’re on a lunch break during the sentencing for three members of the white supremacist group RAM who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to riot here in charlottesville in august 2017.
the arguments over the hate crime enhancement are dragging out what would’ve been a quick hearing.
the arguments over the hate crime enhancement are dragging out what would’ve been a quick hearing.
it’s troubling to me that judge moon seems to not comprehend the depth and intensity of antisemitism inherent in this group’s motivation.
while there’s no proof the victims themselves were jewish, it’s clear the assailants believed them to be part of a jewish conspiracy.
whether or not the women they beat bloody on second street on august 12, 2017 were jewish, what motivated them to be there, to “wreak havoc,” in their words, was violent antisemitism.
one member was found to have this meme on his phone, showing him beating a woman, with a star of david drawn over her head on the photo.
one attorney for the defense said, “if this is an antisemitic organization, it’s the world’s most incompetent antisemitic organization” because there’s no proof any of their victims have been jewish
again, it does. not. matter. if the people they hit are themselves jewish. members of RAM, like so many violent white supremacists, are motivated by conspiracy theories that jewish people are secretly running financial institutions, the media, and the government.
in their view, everyone who opposes them is part of that conspiracy. everyone who opposes them is “a jew” or their agent.
daley himself wrote afterward that the rally was “(((shut down)))” by “ZOG” (both the triple parentheses and ‘ZOG’ being part of this antisemitic worldview)
daley himself wrote afterward that the rally was “(((shut down)))” by “ZOG” (both the triple parentheses and ‘ZOG’ being part of this antisemitic worldview)
an attorney for the defense argued that if the hate crime enhancement is applied to these actions, then ANY crime committed by RAM members would be a hate crime. which... may be halfway true. if you are motivated by hatred of jews to commit crimes, those are hate crimes.
just before calling the lunch recess, judge moon said, with some incredulity, to asst us atty kavanaugh, “i can’t believe they thought that all the people there were jewish.”
he clearly hasn’t spent enough time immersed in the culture of violent white nationalism.
he clearly hasn’t spent enough time immersed in the culture of violent white nationalism.
i am not jewish. but if the men who spend all day calling me a “degenerate k*ke whore” for opposing literal nazism killed me, i would hope they’d be prosecuted with a hate crime enhancement. because it isn’t about who i am, but who they believe me to be.
i’m headed back to the courthouse momentarily. the maximum sentence any of them can face is 5 years. daley will likely see the longest sentence, as the leader of the group.
i should’ve had lunch instead of tweeting. hopefully it isn’t much longer.
for federal conspiracy to riot, benjamin daley was sentenced to a total term of 37 months. michael miselis to 27 months. tom gillen to 33 months. all three men had filed motions for bond pending appeals and all three were denied.
all three will likely file for appeal, arguing that the federal antiriot act is unconstitutional. fellow RAM members charged in california had their cases thrown out based on that judge’s ruling on the same argument, which judge moon rejected in this case.
for all three defendants, judge moon rejected the hate crime enhancements, stating that the government failed to prove that the defendants intentionally selected their victims based on actual or perceived membership of a protected class.
