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CASE STUDY
The “ Unite the Right ” Rally
In 2017 , white nationalist leader Jason Kessler applied for a permit for a rally of far-right activists in Charlottesville ’ s Emancipation Park , near the University of Virginia campus . The city initially granted the application , but revoked the permit just a week before the scheduled rally . The city cited generic “ safety concerns ” about the number of people that might attend . The city also did not revoke the permits of counter-protestors who were planning on opposing Kessler ’ s group .
Kessler sued , and a federal district court ordered the city to reinstate his permit . The court explained that the city ’ s last-minute reversal , and the fact that the city revoked Kessler ’ s permit but not those of counterprotesters , indicated that the revocation was not a true viewpoint-neutral , “ time , place , or manner ” restriction for the sake of crowd control . Rather , the court concluded that the city was trying to suppress Kessler ’ s message . Notably , the city did not argue that — and the court did not consider whether — Kessler ’ s rally was likely to incite imminent violence .
On August 11 and 12 , 2017 , hundreds of white nationalists arrived in Charlottesville and marched through the University of Virginia campus carrying torches and guns and chanting “ Jews will not replace us .” The rally descended into violence as white nationalist demonstrators attacked and brawled with counter-protestors . One white nationalist plowed his car into a crowd , killing a counter-protestor and injuring several more . Some of the victims subsequently sued Kessler and other rally organizers , arguing that their speech crossed the line into incitement and conspiracy to commit violence . A jury awarded the victims $ 25 million , and the court upheld the verdict .
The tragic sequence of events illustrates two principles : first , some speech does cross the line into incitement , and such speech should be regulated and punished . And second , when regulating speech , governments must be even-handed and neutral , and should not treat some protestors more favorably than others .