2 Jul, 2018 14:39

Charlottesville organizer wins $5 after suing activist for ‘f*ck you, crybaby’ comment

Jason Kessler, the organizer of the alt-right Charlottesville march where Heather Heyer was killed, was awarded $5 in a suit against an activist who called him “crybaby Kessler” and said “f*ck you.”

Kessler filed a $500 lawsuit against activist Donna Gasapo, claiming her use of profanity and insulting language could have led to violence. This was despite Kessler’s own protest seemingly inspiring far-right James Alex Fields Jr. to mow down and kill protester Heather Heyer last August.

Gasapo called him “crybaby Kessler” and said “F*ck you,” which Kessler argued was in violation of Virginia’s anti-dueling statute which bans ‘fighting words,’ the Richmond Times Dispatch reports. She also called him a murderer. The incident took place in March outside the trial of DeAndre Harris, who faced charges of assaulting a white supremacist. He had been badly beaten at the march and was later acquitted.

Gasapo’s attorney argued she was protected by the First Amendment. Charlottesville judge Judge Robert H. Downer Jr. said while Gasapo was free to make public statements, her words threatened to breach the peace. He said Kessler didn’t appear harmed by the remarks as he posted footage of the incident online.

The point of suing for “insulting words” isn’t to get rich but to show normal people that they have recourse in the civil courts system to fight back against the harassment tactics of the radical left.A normal person would have made much more money than me as a public figure.
— Jason Kessler (@TheMadDimension) June 29, 2018

Kessler’s concerns about language and violence are at odds with his leaked statements in the lead-up to the Charlottesville march. Kessler set up a Discord chat to plan the march in which he told the group to “get ready for a real fight” and “bring picket signs that can be used as sticks to bludgeon our enemies.”

Kessler and others including Richard Spencer are being sued by a group who argue the notorious march was not an expression of free speech, but a conspiracy to commit violence.