# August 2018 White Civil Rights Rally in Washington, DC. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575 "2018-06-22T15:54:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/241 "2018-12-08T03:52:39Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > If the death penalty is wrong, as in my opinion it is, it is always wrong. It is in precisely these kinds of cases that we need to be most vigilant about our principles. Otherwise, instead of principles we just have convenient beliefs. > > I will be glad if this person has the rest of his life in prison to reflect on his own principles. Perhaps he will have a moral conversion. Perhaps he will apologize. Then he can spend the rest of his life, still in prison, feeling bad about himself. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/242 "2018-12-09T14:45:18Z")
The crying nazi is pissed off that his brother was convicted of murder for killing that girl. He’s got his chest puffed out, not with tears, but threats against The Left. "When Chris Cantwell learned that fellow neo-Nazi James Fields Jr. had been convicted of murder, he promised violent retribution — “complete and total destruction” by “an army of fanatics” ready to die for their cause. But, as with everything Cantwell has done since August 2017, his vow was at least somewhat blunted by his dramatic fall and humiliating nickname: the “Crying Nazi.” > **['Crying Nazi' vows 'destruction' of the left after Charlottesville killer's...](https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-crying-nazi-chris-cantwell-20181208-story.html)** > > When Chris Cantwell learned that fellow neo-Nazi James Fields Jr. had been convicted of murder, he promised violent retribution — "complete and total That fuckhead sure is a scary, intimidating force, isn’t he? Here buddy, have a tissue and blow your nose. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/243 "2018-12-09T16:15:57Z")
I have never said that trump is Hitler, given his style comparisons to Mussolini are more on point. But his first instinct are authoritarian, which is hardly surprising given his coming from the business world which boasts few democratic institutions and add to that the fact that he hasn’t gone through the types of activities that steep one in our democratic traditions. IE: Lower elected office or the military which, while not a democratic body, is certainly an egalitarian one in which the son of a billionaire can find himself taking orders from the son of a bricklayer. But today’s American fascists are a different breed of cat from their earlier counterparts. They recognize how much we Americans appreciate the Democratic forms, so they will leave them intact, drained only of the substance that gives them meaning. What good is freedom of speech, after all, when no one can hear what you’re saying over the din of the state organs? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/244 "2018-12-09T20:25:29Z")
Interesting post, **E-DUB**. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/245 "2018-12-10T00:51:43Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > That fuckhead sure is a scary, intimidating force, isn’t he? Here buddy, have a tissue and blow your nose. If he does that, he’ll blow all his brains out. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/246 "2018-12-11T11:58:07Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > None of the concepts under discussion define themselves exactly. However rejection of the concept of prohibited ‘hate speech’, as US courts have under the first amendment, doesn’t mean people can say anything in any context. Inciting violence _is_ illegal in the US, but has been interpreted to require a direct call for violence against particular people in a context where the result will be immediate and there’s no room or time for competing ideas to be expressed and considered. > > The concept can’t just be that violence tends to result when Group X demonstrates publicly. That would mean anti-Group X activists could just show up at Group X rallies, make sure there’s violence, and thus shut Group X up. That’s not workable and not the system anywhere. I think Canada’s system is misguided, should never be adopted in the US, but in fairness that’s not what it is. > > A ‘hate speech’ system is not about preventing incitement to violence which is already prohibited in the US. It’s about banning speech that’s democratically (in the context of democracies) decided to have no redeeming value. People in favor of that concept should not obfuscate it by claiming it’s all about incitement to violence, then twisting and stretching the definition of ‘incitement’. They should just admit it’s about banning nearly universally disagreed with opinions on sensitive topics for the good of society as a whole as they see it. That’s what it is. I disagree with that concept, I think the slippery slope problem is just too big. _“anti-Group X activists could just show up at Group X rallies, make sure there’s violence, and thus shut Group X up”_ That appears to be what BigT is hoping for on post #26, which makes his self righteous stance against speech that can lead to violence absolutely hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/247 "2018-12-11T19:06:51Z")
[Jury recommends life plus 419 years.](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/james-fields-jr-sentencing-charlottesville-attack-heather-heyer-car-white-supremacist-rally-a8678601.html) The headline is misleading since the actual sentencing won’t come till March 29, but I don’t think the judge will deviate significantly from the jury’s recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/248 "2018-12-11T21:22:21Z")
[AP story here](https://apnews.com/27de7ca034ce4a0fb99daf72e095d0c6). > [@](#): > > A jury Tuesday called for a sentence of life in prison plus 419 years for the Hitler admirer who killed a woman when he rammed his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville two summers ago. > > The decision capped a trial laced with survivors’ anguished testimony and details of the driver’s long history of mental illness. > > James Alex Fields Jr., 21, stood stoically with his hands folded in front of him as he heard the jury’s recommendation. > > It will be up to Judge Richard Moore to decide on the punishment at Fields’ sentencing, set for March 29. Judges in Virginia often go along with the jury’s recommendation. Under state law, they can impose a shorter sentence but not a longer one. I’m heartened to see that the jury saw this for what it was: a man filled with hate who planned to kill people went thru with his plan. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/249 "2018-12-11T21:55:10Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > [Jury recommends life plus 419 years.](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/james-fields-jr-sentencing-charlottesville-attack-heather-heyer-car-white-supremacist-rally-a8678601.html) The headline is misleading since the actual sentencing won’t come till March 29, but I don’t think the judge will deviate significantly from the jury’s recommendation. Plus 419 years. That’s good, it will give his body time to rot away. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/250 "2018-12-11T22:40:56Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Gotta love how some come into a thread about a group of Nazis who are openly celebrating the anniversary of when they managed to kill a counterprotester and go sackcloth and ashes about the poor, oppressed Nazi’s civil rights rather than, say, condemning them for being racist genocidal Nazis. > > Cry for the Nazis, cry for them HARDER. At least the murdering bastard who did it, will never see daylight again. As for those who defend the rights of Nazis … and tell us to respect them … Fuck them too. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/251 "2018-12-11T22:43:45Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Red/Blue is just short hand for the cultural divide of the two America’s. The fact is that what one side views as positive’s about America, the other side views as problematic, if not evil. Acceptance of gay marriage was a wedge issue for red state Americans, but a source of pride for blue state Americans. Rejection of science and promotion of gun culture are traditional values for red America. So in other words, one side is all for intolerance, ignorance, and stupidity. I see it. And it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/252 "2018-12-11T22:46:15Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Is this true? or is it just that with cell phone, social media and the new awareness of the BLM movement there is more attention to what had been going on for decades? > > I had thought it was more the latter, but since I’m not black and so can’t personally to gauge the ebb and flow of discrimination I may be mistaken. These things have always happened. But before it was “he said she said”. What IS true is, the technology is letting us catch the bigots and liars and shit stirrers better. And they don’t like it. It’s hard to refute audio-video evidence. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/253 "2018-12-11T22:48:02Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > This 34-year-old loser sponges off his parents, uses their internet connection to spew crap, and _obscenely insults them in public_ to boot? If I were the elder Kessler, this loser would be out on his sorry ass. If he was my kid, I’d kick his ass. And keep kicking it right out onto the street. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/254 "2018-12-11T22:50:52Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I gotta say - I’m not usually one for the death penalty (it’s problematic in theory and barbaric in practice), but seeing this guy executed would send an _excellent_ signal to all the neo-nazi fucks who might want to turn their disgusting, genocidal beliefs into actions. I’m with you on this one. “You Nazi bastards want to kill all of us? Well here’s some for YOU assholes.” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/255 "2018-12-12T18:21:20Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > And I wonder if Sailboat and his wife are there. > [@Morgyn](#): > > IIRC, **Sailboat** ’s wife was one of the people injured, and it wasn’t minor. **Life in prison PLUS 419 years PLUS $480,000 fine.** Yes indeedy, I was there for a day of the trial (her testimony, otherwise I held down the fort up here) and my wife was there for many days, with a few breaks. She feels as if a great weight has lifted; thanks for the concern, everyone! She also tells everyone who asks that _despite_ her injuries (two badly broken legs, a broken hand, cracked teeth and crowns, a hematoma across her whole midsection, deep vein thrombosis in one leg, scars and contusions) this shouldn’t really be about her, but about the vast numbers of minorities and people of color the white supremacists and Nazis are directly threatening. Many of those people were present at the trial and felt a sense of relief. But she also reports they said they felt something all too rare: some support from white people (we are both “white,” as far as that term goes) and some justice from a system that is all-too-frequently indifferent, even hostile, to them. She’s been bonding with several of the other victims. She was one of the people on the TV reports this week, albeit partially disguised for safety reasons, so you may have seen her. Some impressions from the trial: [ul] [li]The whole alt-right rally royally pissed off the social organizers and political activist community in Charlottesville, and their response has been entirely in character. Numbers of them mobilized to drive witnesses and victims around so that our license plates were not visible to press and alt-right. They took us to refuges during breaks and fed us, they shielded our faces with umbrellas and their bodies, they organized places in town to stay, etc. They really gave of themselves to minimize the stress, confusion and even cost of coming into town to testify. We were enfolded in a network of support and compassion.[/li] [li]The jury, with alternates, was sixteen people – only one of them a person of color. We can’t complain about their work though. :)[/li] [li]The defense team was two attorneys, one of them female. She displayed some weird body language, hanging on Fields and touching his arms and shoulders longingly. One of our experienced court observers was shocked. _shudder_[/li] [li]One ploy by the defense was to stress how scary the atmosphere had been in Charlottesville that day – presumably to bolster their claim of self-defense. So they kept mentioning the people bearing rifles. Maybe the jury figured out that those people were all on Field’s side.[/li] [li]The judge will decide the actual final sentence March 29. He can reduce what the jury recommended but not increase it. So there’s still that shoe to drop…and then the Federal hate crimes charges.[/li][/ul] While justice of a sort is rewarding, it’s hard to celebrate. Heather Heyer is dead, and while my wife will recover most of her functioning, she faces weaker bones and possible osteoarthritis in her golden years, as do all of the seriously injured. And of course our country has a plague of Nazis who are firmly convinced they have support at the highest levels of government. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/256 "2018-12-12T18:28:35Z")
Thanks for checking in **Sailboat** and offering an up-close perspective; mad props to you and your wife. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/257 "2018-12-12T19:39:11Z")
Fucking. Rekt. 419 years? Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/258 "2019-06-28T20:21:52Z")
Fields got sentenced today for the federal hate crime portion of his offences. He was charged with 30 different counts of committing hate crimes. He pleaded guilty to 29 of them. He was sentenced to\*\* LIFE SENTENCE\*\* with **NO PAROLE**! The no parole part is part of his plea agreement. It’s speculated that he took it in order to avoid a death penalty. The final sentencing on his murder charges will happen in a couple weeks. The jury there recommended a life sentence as well, as Sailboat said up thread. I’m not sure why it’s taken seven months to finalize but maybe it has to do with waiting on the federal charges. I hope things are going well for you and your family, Sailboat. Links: > **[Neo-Nazi Who Killed Charlottesville Protester Is Sentenced To Life In Prison](https://www.npr.org/2019/06/28/736915323/neo-nazi-who-killed-charlottesville-protester-is-sentenced-to-life-in-prison)** > > James Fields rammed his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters in 2017, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others. He pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes, avoiding the death penalty. > **[Charlottesville Attacker Apologizes Before Being Sentenced to Life in Prison](https://www.thedailybeast.com/charlottesville-attacker-james-alex-fields-jr-apologizes-before-being-sentenced-to-life-in-prison?ref=home)** > > During a high-school trip to a German concentration camp, Fields Jr. “was like a kid at Disney World,” prosecutors told a judge. > **[James Fields Sentenced to Life in Prison for Death of Heather Heyer in...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/us/james-fields-sentencing.html)** > > The white supremacist drove into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., two summers ago, killing Ms. Heyer and injuring dozens of others. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/259 "2019-06-28T22:50:46Z")
Just saw the news on the AP: [Life sentence for killing at Charlottesville protest | AP News](https://apnews.com/2e61587a0b9c4849b4aec1ec3695ef22) > [@](#): > > “You had a choice to leave Charlottesville, but you did not,” said Rosia Parker, a longtime civil rights activist in Charlottesville who said she was standing feet away from Heyer when Heyer was struck by Fields’ car. > > “You could have done anything else but what you did,” Parker said, her voice breaking as she stared directly at Fields. “So, yeah, you deserve everything that you get.” I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575/260 "2019-07-15T19:01:09Z")
> [@](#): > > An avowed white supremacist was sentenced to life plus 419 years on state charges Monday for deliberately driving his car into anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia. > > James Alex Fields Jr., 22, received the sentence for killing one person and injuring dozens during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017. Good; the judge followed the jury’s recommendation. > **[Man sentenced to 2nd life term in Charlottesville car attack](https://apnews.com/article/08c7dbeb08ef4ad5874cd719e7cfc6b3)** > > CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — An avowed white supremacist was sentenced to life in prison plus 419 years Monday for deliberately driving his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a rally in Virginia, killing one woman and injuring dozens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/august-2018-white-civil-rights-rally-in-washington-dc/816575.md?page=14)