Morning in Charlottesville, where day 16/week 4 of the Sines v Kessler civil trial will soon be underway. Defense will finish cross-examination of Jeff Schoep, ex-leader of National Socialist Movement. He and NSM are defendants in the case. Defense will then present its case.
The trial's tentative end date is Friday, Nov. 19, which might be possible if the defense needs only a couple of days to present its case and the jury is quick to render a verdict. Otherwise, we might see the "Unite the Right" trial spill into the fifth week.
Judge speaking about this with plaintiffs now, asking them to wrap up their case today if possible. Co-lead atty Roberta Kaplan says they plan to wrap up today and hope to finish the trial by Friday. Of course that'll depend a lot on the defense and their case.
Walking into court today, I finally got the story of the stuffed dinosaur that defendant and white nationalist Richard Spencer has been carrying with him during the trial. He said it's his "emotional support animal" given to him by his daughter.
Jeff Schoep is back on the stand, virtually, being cross-examined by the defense. He's asked whether he recalls any conspiracy re: Unite the Right. "I don't recall...any conspiracy." He says he wouldn't have been part of one if there were one.
Schoep says Unite the Right was “a horrible tragedy” but at time of it he says his “job” was to make everything NSM did seem like a success. He describes past events that were successful in his view as those where permit holders & counterprotesters allowed to demo peacefully.
Schoep describes his protest past, saying most of the rallies he’s participated in were peaceful. He says he took part in 70-80 events over his 25+ years as head of NSM. He discusses more of his past, which does include violence; he just says it was aimed at him.
Schoep describes being hit in the back of the skull with a tire iron by an antiracist protester in the late 90s. (Plaintiffs objected to "late 90s" and defense rephrased the Q)
Schoep asked by defense about his pre-UTR comments on "preparing for violence" and says "that was preparing for violence against us," based on his experience in the past with antifa counterprotesters.
Schoep claims he had no role whatsoever in planning the Unite the RIght rally and just encouraged NSM members to attend. (Of course, he lost his phone in a toilet and failed to turn over evidence in this case, so...)
Defense: What did you see law enforcement do at UTR? Schoep" I saw them do very little until police told people to depart the park. He recalls the crowd being pushed down some stairs and "directly into hostile counterprotesters."
Defense and Schoep exchange: Did NSM bring firearms? Not to my knowledge. Clubs? Not to my knowledge. That would have been against our operating procedures. Knives, axes? Absolutely not. Flag poles? Yes, they were PVC pipes. One whack with the flag pole and the flag pole breaks.
Schoep says PVC flag poles were meant to show they weren’t weapons but "an item you can hang your flag on." Shields? "NSM did have a few shields. They were made out of lightweight plastic." He says they couldn't be used as weapons. "They were all banged up" from deflecting rocks
After some tech difficulties, court is back, and we are seeing defense atty William Edward ReBrook on Zoom. His backdrop is floral wallpaper and a large castle painting. Schoep also appearing over Zoom, wearing a blindingly blue shirt and sideburns like it's 1979.
ReBrook done with Schoep. Bill Isaacson questioning Schoep now, asking about his change of beliefs. Schoep has claimed to have disavowed white supremacy in the years since Unite the Right.
Tech difficulties. Isaacson trying to show Schoep a 2019 message from NSM site he signed, but won't appear on screen. Judge Moon shouts, "read it to him!" Isaacson reads aloud a message from Schoep calling this Sines V Kessler lawsuit "frivolous." He confirms he wrote it.
Isaacson going after Schoep's apparent rejection of white supremacy. You told your members the reason you were giving was to protect it from the lawsuit, correct? "Whatever I said in the letter I stand by them," Schoep says.
Moving on. Plaintiffs call to the stand main defendant and white nationalist Jason Kessler, a Charlottesville resident at the time of Unite the Right. He's already getting testy with Karen Dunn, co-lead atty for plaintiffs.
Kessler says he believes western civilization was built by white men and they should have majority ownership over their birthright; that Jewish people are a distinct ethnic group; and he believes there are "IQ differences" between people of different ethnic groups.
Dunn asks Kessler about Charlottesville 1.0 and his plan to hold a much larger event, Charlottesville 2.0. Kessler says he wanted a bigger rally but says it was called "Unite the Right." Dunn is now getting into messages he posted during planning UTR and saying they'd "fight."
Dunn showing Kessler a Discord post from May 2017. He reads in part: "I would go to the ends of the earth to secure a future for my people, with or without the funny [banter]... This is war."
Dunn shows Kessler a message he sent to alt-right blogger Baked Alaska about Unite the Right plans. In part, it reads, "Are you on Facebook? A lot of our planning is happening in a secret chat."
Dunn shows more messages, these from a Facebook chat in late May 2017. Kessler: "Communists deserve to be culled." and "There is no getting along. We have to fight for our future."
Dunn shows Kessler a Discord chat entry from him. In it, he refers to the then-upcoming Unite the Right rally as “The Battle for Charlottesville” and the “EAST COAST BERKELEY” and he urgers people to "assemble every mother fucker you can."
Dunn goes thru Kessler's comms and outreach to many of his fellow white nationalists and defendants. "I wanted as many people as possible to attend the event," Kessler tells Dunn, as she reads through his comms and invites with folks like Richard Spencer, Nathan Damigo, Eli Kline
Dunn brings up Chris Cantwell, defendant and neo-nazi. Kessler says he spoke to him ahead of UTR but he doesn't recall him "being a major participant." Dunn shows email exchanges. "Like I was saying on the phone, Charlottesville is a liberal shitshow," reads one.
Kessler says he and Cantwell met in person. "We got sandwiches or something." They texted each other between Aug 7-17, 2017. They discussed meeting at an after-party and holding a press conference after the car attack to get their narrative out there.
Kessler says getting Daily Stomer involved with UTR was "a topic of contention" but agrees there was talk of it. Dunn points to messages from Robert Ray, aka "Azzmador," of Daily Stormer about an "hours long" talk with "organizers" of the UTR rally.
Kessler is pushing back against what Dunn is doing, which is trying to show Kessler invited the Daily Stormer folks, regardless of whether he now says he doesn't like people associated with the site, such as Azzmador.
"Let's talk about your communications with other defendants," Dunn says. This is the plaintiff's final witness. Clearly they're hoping Kessler will be their nail in the coffin of their argument that a conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence at "Unite the Right" existed.
Dunn shows Kessler records of 15 calls between himself and Richard Spencer between May and August 2017, leading up to Unite the Right. Dunn then shows records of 13 calls between Kessler and Chris Cantwell between June and August 12.
Dunn shows Kessler had more than 20 calls (some might be voicemails with neo-nazi Matt Heimbach of the Traditionalist Worker Party between May 22 and August 12 of 2017. One call was nearly an hour long. He spoke to League of the South's Michael Hill ~8 times over a similar period
Next set of phone records shows Kessler talked to Elliot Kline aka Eli Mosley every day in the days leading up to "Unite the Right." There are dozens of calls.
Dunn shows Facebook exchange in June 2017 between Kessler and Colton Merwin from the Maryland chapter of the Proud Boys. "What's the situation with antifa? I'm ready to throw down."
Kessler says he was "horsing around" in the chats. Dunn asks if he delegated some tasks in organizing UTR to others. He says he did.
Another exchange with Kessler and others on social media appears to show UTR organizers wanted to make sure antifa would show up....
Kessler: "We need a new way to tip off Antifa when we want them to show up somewhere. Someone who can send photos and tips to their members. Either with a fake account or some apolitical normie who will do it on our behalf."

...
"I can probably get my girl to use her account to do it. Just me me what to do."

Kessler: "That would be cool. We definitely want to play these people into our hands Saturday in Charlottesville."
Another Kessler message to UTR-goers from July 2017. “Can you guys conceal carry? I don’t want to scare antifa off from throwing the first punch… I want them to start something." He adds "lots of armed military vets in attendance so we aren't going to be lacking for firepower."
Getting into Aug. 11 and 12. Dunn asks about Kessler leading the torchlight march on Aug. 11. "False!" shouts Kessler. He says he denies that statement, Elliott Kline/Eli Mosley led the march, he says.
Kessler still on the stand. Defense is now up to cross-examine him, beginning with Richard Spencer. The two white nationalists do not like each other, which Kessler made apparent in his testimony. So, this could be interesting.
Spencer: When did you first become aware of me.
Kessler: I think it was with the "Heil Trump" speech."
Spencer asks when Kessler first reached out to him, but he doesn't recall.
Spencer: Was Charlottesville 2.0 kind of a way of doing over Charlottesville 1.0 but with you in charge?
Kessler: Uh...
Spencer: Did you want to be a leader of the alt-right?
Kessler: Yeah.
Hoo boy, things getting heated b/w white nationalists in court.
Spencer: "So when did you determine that I was a sociopathic narcissist?"
Kessler to Spencer "You were just despicable to everyone you ever came in contact with...You were like a robot, like a serial killer."
Kessler continued, voice raised at Spencer (who is defending himself in court and thus cross-examining Kessler): "You and Eli Mosley were accusing me of being a Jew because I wouldn't sieg heil with you."
Spencer: "That’s— That's enough Jason."
Spencer reads aloud a previous message sent to him from Kessler: "Eat my dust you jealous bitch."
Spencer, pointing out Kessler tried to hire a Spencer impersonator once for media attention, asks, "Does this not sound like sociopathic narcissism?"
Spencer: Have you ever been diagnosed with mental illness?
Plaintiffs: "Objection."
Spencer: "No further questions."
Plaintiffs have called neo-nazi and defendant Chris Cantwell to the witness stand. We're hearing a clip of the first episode of his Radical Agenda podcast play in court. He says armed extremists among listeners of his podcast.
Plaintiffs' attorney Michael Bloch asks Cantwell, "You're aware what you say on your show can influence people's behavior?" "Yes," Cantwell answers. Bloch shows him past writings where he suggests that if he advocated for violence his listeners would take heed.
"I sincerely hope that every man who listens to the sound of my voice takes this [white nationalist] cause seriously enough to kill and die for it." Cantwell wrote in a post shown by Bloch in court.
Bloch plays for the court a recorded interview of Cantwell and Andrew "Weev" Auernheimer of Daily Stormer in which he calls for a race war and praises neo-nazi mass murderer Dylann Roof.
"I fucking like you… You’re awesome," Cantwell tells Weev after listening to him rant.
Bloch: "You sold copies of Mein Kampf to your listeners in 2017?"
Cantwell: "Yes."
Bloch: "And you called me a Jew during this litigation, yes?"
Cantwell: "At least once, yes."
Whoa. Cantwell just erupted at atty Michael Bloch in court. "I don't care about the fucking photo Mike, I don't give a shit. You're being an asshole," Cantwell shouted, referring to an image he posted of the car attack overlayed with the text "This is what democracy looks like."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Christopher Miller

Christopher Miller Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ChristopherJM

16 Nov
Mornin'. It's day 17/week 4 of Sines v Kessler in Charlottesville. Defense will continue cross-examining Chris Cantwell, plaintiffs last witness. We should hear defense's case today. Closing arguments maybe tomorrow? Folks saying this is on track to wrap up Friday but we'll see.
Here's a thread from yesterday. Things got pretty rowdy in court:

And here's my summary of what went down for @BuzzFeedNews: buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
We are now hearing neo-nazi Chris Cantwell cross-examine himself because he's defending himself in court (more on that: buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…)

Cantwell begins by asking the judge to clarify if he needs to actually ask himself questions and then answer them.
Read 45 tweets
8 Nov
Wow. The Kyiv Post, one of the last English-language news outlets in the FSU and a place where many young foreign correspondents — myself included — cut their teeth, is closing. Supposedly temporarily. But I'm told journalists are emptying desks and leaving the office today.
Owner Adnan Kivan wants to "change" and "expand" the company and to create editions in English, Russian, Ukrainian, and Arabic (He's Syrian), he told the Odesa TV channel he also owns. detector.media/infospace/arti…
One thing is clear, Kyiv Post has needed a facelift and a digital upgrade for a while. But I'm hearing from folks with knowledge of this shakeup that what Kivan might want is not only some "restructuring," but also what most media owners in Ukraine want: control over editorial.
Read 6 tweets
8 Nov
"Goodbye, America!" That's the title of this segment on Belarusian state TV in which American Evan Neumann of California explains he fled the US to evade the FBI. He's wanted on 6 counts related to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and now wants asylum in authoritarian Belarus.
Here's the complaint against Evan Neumann. He's charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police and a host of alleged crimes related to violence, illegal entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. justice.gov/usao-dc/case-m…
Evan Neumann told Belarus state TV that he blames BLM for destroying businesses and the US government for political persecution. He says a lawyer advised him to flee to Europe. tvr.by/news/obshchest…
Read 9 tweets
29 Oct
It's Friday, folks. This morning in Charlottesville, the first witnesses for the plaintiffs will take the stand in Sines v Kessler, the civil case filed against the "Unite the Right" organizers.

Here's how opening statements went yesterday: buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
Witnesses, including the plaintiffs themselves, who were injured in the "Unite the Right" violence will testify and be questioned by the plaintiffs' legal team. But they'll also be cross-examined by the defendants' legal team, and Richard Spencer and Chris Cantwell themselves.
Read 88 tweets
28 Oct
NEW @BuzzFeedNews: Neo-Nazi Christopher Cantwell Watched Tucker Carlson And Got Help From A White Supremacist In Prison To Prepare For His Trial In Charlottesville buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
Cantwell worked on his legal strategy with other white supremacists who are incarcerated in the same Illinois federal prison, Matthew Hale and William “Bill” White. Plaintiffs said White has been ghostwriting Cantwell's many bizarre motions filed to court. buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
Cantwell has admitted to getting help from White and Hale because he's "unlearned in the law and legally illiterate" and he doesn't like his handwriting. But he says they aren't ghostwriting for him.
Read 6 tweets
28 Oct
Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia, where opening arguments are set to begin in Sines vs. Kessler — aka the "Unite the Right" white supremacist civil trial — at 9am. If you're just catching up, here's what you need to know: buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
Jury selection was supposed to be two days but it dragged on through a third. It was...interesting and telling. buzzfeednews.com/article/christ…
Read 94 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(