‘Unite the Right’ trial jurors hear closings in Virginia

By DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (AP) — Lawyers for nine people hurt during the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville have told a jury that white nationalists “planned, executed and then celebrated” racially motivated violence that left one counterprotester dead and dozens more injured. The closing arguments came Thursday in the trial of a civil lawsuit seeking to hold two dozen white nationalists, neo-Nazis and white supremist organizations accountable for the violence in 2017. The defendants deny any conspiracy and said their pre-rally boasting was protected by the First Amendment. One woman was killed and dozens were injured when an avowed white supremacist rammed his car into counterprotesters.