Closing arguments underway in civil suit over deadly "Unite the Right" rally
CBSN
Jurors are hearing closing arguments Thursday in the federal civil trial for White nationalists and neo-Nazis who organized the deadly "Unite the Right" rally and tiki-torch march in August 2017.
The three-week trial showcased an extensive paper trail left behind by defendants accused of engaging in a conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence. The two dozen defendants include notorious leaders of established hate groups.
The plaintiffs, made up of current and former Charlottesville residents — including former University of Virginia students — are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for physical and emotional injuries suffered during the fatal August weekend and thereafter.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.