A panel of 11 jurors in Charlottesville, Virginia, decided against a group of white nationalist defendants and ordered them to pay millions in damages on Tuesday, concluding a lengthy and unconventional trial that sought to hold them financially accountable for working to spread hate.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on two main claims, which included whether the defendants conspired to commit racially motivated violence.
Still, the defendants will likely be forced to pay six-figure damages each to nine plaintiffs who joined the August 2017 demonstrations against the “Unite the Right” rally ― two days of clashes between far-right extremists and counterprotesters that left one woman dead, dozens injured and a scar on modern American history.
In total, defendants are currently on the hook for more than $25 million.
“In fact,” Cohen said, “Steve Bannon is a fucking racist to the core — no different than [Trump’s former White House aide] Steve Miller ... He is a fucking maniac to the nth degree.”
“His leader is Donald Trump,” Cohen said of Bannon before adding that Bannon “thinks Donald is an idiot. It’s the truth.”