A man who sustained life-altering injuries in 2017 from being violently struck by a car driven by the man who ultimately murdered Heather Heyer took the witness stand in Charlottesville on Thursday as part of an ongoing trial against “Unite the Right” rally organizers. Thomas Baker said he now lives with chronic pain and limited mobility as well as the emotional effects from the crash. Baker told attorney David Mills, who is part of a team representing plaintiffs in the Sines vs. Kessler case, that a book falling to the floor can trigger a panic attack and memories of the event.
Baker expertly handled cross-examination from the likes of Richard Spencer (who hasn’t fared so great as his own attorney) and Christopher “Crying Nazi” Cantwell, the latter of whom became visibly upset when Baker said he did not see swaths of “antifa” carrying out violent attacks that August weekend in 2017. It got to a point that Judge Norman Moon stepped in to reiterate that Baker hadn’t seen any counterprotesters carrying bats when repeatedly pressed by Cantwell.
Baker made it abundantly clear that he knew participants of the “Unite the Right” rally were racist instigators willing to parachute in and terrorize the city of Charlottesville without a single care for its residents. He categorized them as bullies but admitted the word likely was too weak a descriptor.
Baker recalled members of the neo-Confederate League of the South barreling through counterprotesters with their shields and striking people with flagpoles as they made their way to a park where no actual rally took place. League of the South members pelted the crowd with objects and repeatedly raced back and forth to continue attacking counterprotesters as their nonevent soon became labeled an “unlawful assembly.”
Perhaps the most alarming testimony came from League of the South co-founder Michael Hill, who was made to recite a racist pledge he made in 2016 and did so with aplomb. Hill also readily admitted that his opinion hadn’t changed about the outcome of the “Unite the Right” rally, either.
Hill never apologized to Heyer’s family or to anyone impacted by the rally and has no plans to do so. He’s consistently defended convicted murderer James Fields, who fatally struck Heyer with his car and was responsible for Baker’s injuries as well as dozens of other people. And he isn’t alone in being an unabashed Nazi hellbent on violence in a trial that hinges on proving “Unite the Right” rally organizers’ very explicit intent to harm anyone who stands in their way. The trial continues next week, with a break on Thursday for a holiday. Defendants are expected to provide an estimate on Monday of how many trial dates they need to keep digging their own graves.
Baker expertly handled cross-examination from the likes of Richard Spencer (who hasn’t fared so great as his own attorney) and Christopher “Crying Nazi” Cantwell, the latter of whom became visibly upset when Baker said he did not see swaths of “antifa” carrying out violent attacks that August weekend in 2017. It got to a point that Judge Norman Moon stepped in to reiterate that Baker hadn’t seen any counterprotesters carrying bats when repeatedly pressed by Cantwell.
Baker made it abundantly clear that he knew participants of the “Unite the Right” rally were racist instigators willing to parachute in and terrorize the city of Charlottesville without a single care for its residents. He categorized them as bullies but admitted the word likely was too weak a descriptor.
Baker recalled members of the neo-Confederate League of the South barreling through counterprotesters with their shields and striking people with flagpoles as they made their way to a park where no actual rally took place. League of the South members pelted the crowd with objects and repeatedly raced back and forth to continue attacking counterprotesters as their nonevent soon became labeled an “unlawful assembly.”
Perhaps the most alarming testimony came from League of the South co-founder Michael Hill, who was made to recite a racist pledge he made in 2016 and did so with aplomb. Hill also readily admitted that his opinion hadn’t changed about the outcome of the “Unite the Right” rally, either.
Hill never apologized to Heyer’s family or to anyone impacted by the rally and has no plans to do so. He’s consistently defended convicted murderer James Fields, who fatally struck Heyer with his car and was responsible for Baker’s injuries as well as dozens of other people. And he isn’t alone in being an unabashed Nazi hellbent on violence in a trial that hinges on proving “Unite the Right” rally organizers’ very explicit intent to harm anyone who stands in their way. The trial continues next week, with a break on Thursday for a holiday. Defendants are expected to provide an estimate on Monday of how many trial dates they need to keep digging their own graves.