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Federal Judge Considers White Nationalist Legal Challenge

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A federal judge is mulling arguments from white nationalists and others that a civil rights lawsuit against them over last summer's violence in Charlottesville should be dismissed.

A hearing on motions from a number of defendants was held Thursday in federal court in Charlottesville. The judge didn't immediately rule.

The lawsuit was filed in October by Virginians who said they were injured as a result of the August events. It alleges the defendants conspired to commit violence under the pretext of a rally.

Among the defendants who filed motions to dismiss are rally organizer Jason Kessler and white nationalist Richard Spencer.

James Fields, the man accused of driving into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing a woman, is also named in the lawsuit. He did not file a motion to dismiss. 

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.