PBS: “Modern-Day Nazi fighter” Amy Spitalnick on Suing After Charlottesville (Q+A)
By: Integrity First For America News CoverageRead the full PBS interview here.
Amy Spitalnick is the executive director of Integrity First for America (IFA), the civil rights nonprofit behind Sines v. Kessler — the federal lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. We spoke to Amy about the upcoming trial which begins on Monday, October 25, 2021.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author.
You’ve been called a modern-day Nazi fighter. How is your work today connected to your family history?
I’m the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. What was, for most of my life, a piece of history has now become a far-too-relevant cautionary tale of what happens when hate and extremism go unchecked. If you told me five or ten years ago that my job would be to sue Nazis, I would have thought you were crazy. But if we live in a world where that’s necessary. We have an incredible pro bono team of attorneys – led by Robbie Kaplan and Karen Dunn – who have been working tirelessly on behalf of our plaintiffs. I’m grateful and honored to be a part of this fight.
Why did the plaintiffs decide to sue the neo-Nazis who planned the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017?
It was clear early on that the violence was no accident. The Discord social media chats leaked in the aftermath illustrate how well-planned it all was. Those chats included every possible detail, from what sort of bread to use for lunch to whether they could hit protesters with cars and claim self-defense. And all of these chats were replete with the most horrific antisemitism, racism, and other forms of hate – for example, “Next stop Charlottesville, final stop Auschwitz!”
It wasn’t a “clash.” It was a violent conspiracy, motivated by racial animus – and we have laws that are meant to protect against just that. But in 2017, with a DOJ then led by Jeff Sessions, it was especially clear that the federal government wouldn’t ensure the accountability and justice desperately needed after Unite the Right. Our team was on the ground within days, meeting with those injured, and in October 2017, just two months after the violence, our nine plaintiffs filed suit against the two dozen leaders and hate groups most directly responsible.