CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A Virginia man is suing the city of Charlottesville, its police chief and the Virginia State Police superintendent over their response to a white nationalist rally that descended into violence.
Nexus Caridades Attorneys Inc. filed a complaint Thursday in federal court on behalf of Robert Sanchez Turner. The complaint says Turner was at the rally Aug. 12 to peacefully protest.
It says Turner was approached by "KKK members/sympathizers," who sprayed him with mace and beat him with a stick. According to the complaint, Charlottesville police and state troopers nearby watched the attack but did not intervene or arrest the assailants.
A state police spokeswoman says she can't comment on pending litigation. Charlottesville City Attorney Craig Brown declined to comment, as did a police spokesman.
Statue Painted Out of Mural
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Officials have removed a painting of a Confederate monument from a mural in Virginia's second largest city and replaced it with another image.
The postcard-style mural on the side of Norfolk's new Waterside District had shown the city's Confederate monument alongside other scenes and landmarks.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that by Thursday the monument's image had been painted over and replaced with a Norfolk street scene. Waterside District president Glenn Sutch told the newspaper that the inclusion of the monument on the mural was "inadvertent."
Norfolk City Council recently approved a resolution declaring its desire to move the monument to a cemetery as soon as state law allows it.
Norfolk's monument, known as "Johnny Reb" for its statue of a Confederate soldier, has stood at the site for 110 years.
Suit Against Statue Removal
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A judge in Virginia is set to hear arguments in a lawsuit over Charlottesville's decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Attorneys for both sides will be in court Friday for a hearing on whether the lawsuit should proceed. The city has asked that it be dismissed.
A group of plaintiffs that includes area residents and the Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans sued after Charlottesville's City Council voted earlier this year to remove the statue. They say that decision violates a state law on memorials for war veterans.
The controversy sparked the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally that descended into violent chaos. Charlottesville has since shrouded the monument with a black tarp as a symbol of mourning for the woman who was killed.
