A pair of siblings who say they were injured during a white nationalist rally that turned violent over the weekend have filed a $3 million lawsuit against the man accused of plowing a car into a crowd of counter-protesters. The lawsuit also names the rally’s organizers.
The lawsuit filed by Tadrint Washington and Micah Washington says that they were “injured both physically and emotionally” when James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly “rammed his car into a crowd of people” and into the car that they were in.”
According to the suit, Fields is “a racist, violent and hateful person who sought to kill people, including plaintiffs, in order to further a message of hate, intolerance and to instill terror in and intimidate all those who oppose the Alt-right’s vision of a racist intolerant society.”
Jason Kessler and Richard Spencer, who according to the suit was an organizer of the Unite the Right rally which sparked the weekend’s violence, are also named in the suit, among many other individuals and organizations.
“There was no doubt that violence was intended at this rally as The Daily Stormer, a popular neo-Nazi website, encouraged rally attendees to bring shields, pepper spray, and fascist flags and flagpoles,” the lawsuit reads. “A prominent racist podcast told its listeners to come carrying guns.”
According to the suit, the Washingtons “were driving to their home” in Charlottesville and “were not counter-protesters and did not attend any of the events relating to the rally or protest.”
The crash, according to the suit, caused the Washingtons “to slam into the dashboard and windshield leaving them with serious injuries to their head and extremities.”
Alleging assault and battery, civil conspiracy, negligence per se and intentional infliction of emotional distress and other counts, the suit is seeking $3 million in damages.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.