The Washington Post - USA (2021-10-27)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27 , 2021. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE B5

do Law School, who has studied
Black Lives Matter and legal his-
tory.
“Given the country in which
we live, in 2021, I’m not sure that
anyone could in good faith allege
neutrality unless at the same
time, they are alleging complete
absence of knowledge,” Inniss
said. “What you ideally want is
not someone who is a blank slate,
but rather someone who has an
open mind.”
Plaintiffs’ attorneys, led by
prominent lawyers Roberta Kap-
lan and Karen Dunn, are using an
1871 statute designed to protect
newly emancipated Black people
from the Ku Klux Klan as the
grounds for this suit against
modern-day hate groups. Civil
rights nonprofit Integrity First
for America is backing the law-
suit.
The plaintiffs are diverse
members of the community and
include four people who were

CHARLOTTESVILLE FROM B1 struck when a 20-year-old
avowed neo-Nazi and defendant
in this case, James A. Fields Jr.,
plowed his car into a crowd of
counterprotesters, killing 32-
year-old anti-racist protester
Heather Heyer.
At least two KKK factions are
represented among the defen-
dants, who also include Jason
Kessler, the organizer of the
Aug. 12, 20 17, Unite the Right
rally; Richard Spencer, who led
the previous night’s torchlight
march across the University of
Virginia campus; and Matthew
Heimbach, a white-nationalist
leader with ties to far-right fac-
tions in Eastern Europe.
Many of the prospective jurors
on Monday expressed lasting an-
guish from the events of 2017.
Prospective jurors also said they
knew Heyer and other people
who were counterprotesting or
injured that day, including DeAn-
dre Harris, a Black man whom
white supremacists brutally beat
in a parking garage.

The questions Moon asked th em foreshadow the type of flash points that will arise during this weeks-long trial. The prospective jurors were asked in a questionnaire if they were concerned about prejudice against people who are Jewish, Black, Hispanic and White, or involved in groups including Jewish Community Centers, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP or the Institute for Historical Review, which pro- motes Holocaust denial. One juror who works on a farm said in court Monday that “as a community we want to get it behind us and see justice done.” In his questionnaire, Moon said, the juror indicated he would not be able to overcome precon- ceived notions about the Unite the Right rally, stating, “These people are terrorists.” “Do you think you can set aside that opinion?” Moon asked. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can,” the juror said.

Another potential juror, who indicated she disapproves of re- moving statues of Confederate leaders partly because of “South- ern pride,” said Tuesday she be- lieved “the Black Lives Matter movement and the antifa movement” were responsible for the “violence and chaos” during the Unite the Right weekend. She then said there was a “White side that came in, the White activists, the KKK... they created a race war in Charlottesville, in our city.” Moon excused both these jurors “for cause,” meaning he did not believe they could fairly adju- dicate the case. Attorneys on both sides and defendants representing themselves are also able to make their case why a juror could be excused “for cause.” If Moon deems a juror qualified, each side also has a limited number of jurors they can eliminate without a reason. The issue of prospective jurors’ views regarding a loose collection of anti-fascist p rotesters, also re-

ferred to as antifa, arose often, notably with a prospective juror who indicated on his questionnaire that he viewed antifa as “troublemakers.” “It seems like to me like they’re always involving themselves into racial riots and stuff and causing a lot of problems,” the prospective juror told Moon on Monday, explaining that his views on antifa were shaped by what he hears on television. “I don’t know any of them, and they don’t bother me.” Moon asked if this prospective juror could still evaluate the case without being influenced by what others may have done. “I was told if I want to be on the jury that you’ve got to be open- minded, and I feel like I am.” the man replied. As the juror left, both sides sparred over whether these views were disqualifying, and Moon sought clarity: “I don’t know the structure of antifa. Do they have members sign up?”

“It is not something that someone carries a m embership card for, but neither is white nationalism,” said defendant Christopher Cantwell, who was dubbed the “Crying Nazi” after a viral video showed him weeping upon learning that he was want- ed by authorities in connection with the rally. Cantwell, who has quoted Adolf Hitler in court documents and was dropped by his attorneys in part for allegedly threatening a lawyer for the plaintiffs, was representing himself in the trial. The plaintiffs’ attorneys had submitted a brief on Sunday that the court should excuse jurors with “extreme views about ‘Anti- fa,’ ” saying the defendants are trying to blame “their violent conspiracy” on antifa. Ultimately, this prospective juror — who had called antifa “troublemakers” — was one of the few selected so far to possibly serve. [email protected]

Potential Charlottesville jurors questioned on topics including antifa, racism

BY DONNA ST. GEORGE

A fifth-grade student died af-
ter collapsing in a classroom at
his Montgomery County public
school in Maryland, officials said
Tuesday.
School system officials in
Montgomery said they do not
know the child ’s cause of death
but sa id the medical emergency
came on suddenly at 9:50 a.m.
Monday, not long after classes
began at Farmland Elementary
School, in the North Bethesda-
Rockville area.
Spokesman Christopher Cram
said the boy fell ill in his class-
room and was immediately tend-
ed by the school nurse, who then
called 911.
Other students were escorted
out of the classroom while the
boy was treated for some time by

emergency workers, but he was unresponsive and taken to a hospital, where he was pro- nounced dead, according to Cram. School system officials said they could not comment on any possible link to the coronavirus because they have no informa- tion about what caused the se- vere distress. “We really feel for the family ,” Cram said. Students at the school were not notified of the death, but a letter went out to parents de- scribing the incident. Farmland Elementary educates 813 students. “While we have not shared this loss with any of our students, our school psychologist and counsel- ors along with the district-level staff were onsite and available to

support our students who were present when the medical emergency oc curred,” Farmland El- ementary School Principal April D. Longest wrote in the letter. “We will continue to have qualified staff onsite to support students and staff as we deal with this loss in the days ahead,” the letter said. The school system is the state’s largest, with more than 160,000 students. Montgomery County police routinely investigate unattended deaths and have done so in this instance. No foul play is suspected, said Officer Casandra Tressler, a police spokeswoman. [email protected]

Dan Morse contributed to this report.

MARYLAND

5th-grader dies after collapse in class

BY TOM JACKMAN

Prosecutor s with the Virginia
Attorney General ’s Office and the
Fairfax County commonwealth ’s
attorne y’s of fice on Tuesday ap-
pealed a federal judg e’s decision
to throw out all charges against
two U.S. Park Police of ficers in
the 2017 slaying of motorist Bijan
Ghaisa r.
The case will now be consid-
ered by the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 4th Cir cuit, based in
Richmond. The cou rt attracted
attention last year in another
poli ce shooting case, decided
shortly after the murder of
George Floyd in Minneapolis,
when it reversed a lower court’s
grant of qualified immunity for
officers who shot a West Virginia
man 22 times. “This has to stop,”
the court’s ruling declared.
The 4th Circuit’s statistics in-
dicate the court takes an average
of six months to issue an opinion
after a notice of appeal is filed. It
is quite possible that the losing

side at the 4th Circuit will then ask the U.S. Supre me Court to take up the case, which centers on the issue of “supremacy im- munit y,” in which federal officers may not be tried by state prosecutors if their actions were “necessary and proper.” Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton in Alexandria cited those terms in dismissing the involuntary manslaughter and weapons charges brought by a Fairfax grand jury last year against officers Lucas Vinyard, 40, an d Alejandro Amaya, 42. In November 2017, Vi nyard and Amaya began pursuing Ghaisar, 25, down the George Washington Memorial Parkway after he had left t he scene of a fender bender in Alexandria in which he was struck from behind. A Fairfax police lieutenant joined the pur- suit, and his in-car video camera recorded it. On the video, Ghaisar is seen stopping twice and being con- fronted by Am aya, who was

wielding his weapon. Ghaisar drove away both times. He then drove into a residential neigh- borhood of Fairfax and stopped at an intersection. The video shows that Vinyard maneuvered his marked Park Police vehicle to block Ghaisar from driving away again, but as Amaya stood near the front of Ghaisar’s vehicle with gun drawn, Ghaisa r’s Jeep Grand Cherokee slowly moved forward, and both Amaya and Vinyard opened fire, killing the unarmed driver. The Justice Department in 2019 declined to file federal criminal civil rights charges against the two of ficers. Fairfax prosecutors then picked up the case and obtained indictments against them in Oc- tober 2020. The officers removed the case from Fairfax to federal court and asked that Hilton dis- miss it because they were federal officers acting properly under color of la w. The supremacy clause of the U.S. Con stitution

holds that states must defer to federal law, and courts have interpreted that to grant immunity to most federal of ficers charged in state court, with rare exceptions. “Considering the circum- stances,” Hilton wrote in a seven- page opinion, “the of ficers were reasonable to fear for Officer Amaya’s life and discharge their

weapons when Ghaisar’s Jeep lurched forward” The notice of appeal does not list the specific issues that Vir- ginia prosecutors believe Hilton got wron g. The cou rt will assign a three-judge panel to the case, set a briefing schedule for both sides, and then hold oral argu- ment if it cannot resolve the case solely on the briefs.

Ten of the 17 judges on the 4th Circuit were appointed by Democratic presidents. A B iden nominee awaiting confirmation to the court, Toby Heytens, was formerly lead prosecutor in the Ghaisar case, and would probably recuse himself if he joins the bench while the case is pending. [email protected]

VIRGINIA

Prosecution appeals dismissal of Ghaisar case vs. U.S. Park Police o∞cers

BY OVETTA WIGGINS

As state health officials mount
a push for coronavirus vaccine
boosters in Maryland, a poll
found that an overwhelming ma-
jority of residents in the highly
vaccinated state said they are
likely to get one as soon as they
are eligible.
The Goucher College poll,
which was released Wednesday,
found that 83 percent of vacci-
nated Marylanders said they
probably will get a booster shot,
while 15 percent said they are not
likely to.
The poll follows an announce-
ment by state of ficials earlier this
week that they are “strongly
encouraging” vaccinated resi-
dents, particularly those with
underlying conditions, to get a
booster as soon as possible.
On Monday, Gov. Larry Hogan
(R) said that vaccinated people
in Maryland make up about
30 percent of covid-19 deaths. He
said those deaths were mostly
linked to waning immuni ty
among people with unde rlying
health conditions, including dia-
betes and hypertension. That is
why, he said, it is important for
people to get a booster as soon as
possible.

Hogan sa id a nyone who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and is 65 and older or those 18 and older with an underlying health condition or who live or work in a h igh-risk setting is eligible to get a booster six

months after their second dose. If a resident received the one- dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, he or she can receive a booster shot two months after getting vaccinated, regardless of age or occupation.

As of Tuesday, the state has admini stered nearly 292,000 boosters. Mileah Kromer, associate professor of political science and the director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College, said state of ficials should be heartened by the poll findings in their effort to fight the coronavirus.

“It’s a good thing for the public health community because there is not a lot of resistance,” she said. “Maryland- ers are, by and large, still concerned about covid. They have a high vaccination rate, and those who are vaccinated want to get the booster .” The poll found that two-thirds of Maryland residents who are vaccinated said they have limited the time they have spent with friends, family and others who are not vaccinated. Thirty percent said they have not limited their interactions. The findings about the boosters were relatively similar among both White and Black Marylanders and across regions in the state, but there was some differ ence based on political ideolo gy. According to the poll, about 1 in 3 p eople who identify as conser vative sa id th ey are unlikely to get a b ooster. Fourteen percent of moderates said they are unlikely to get an additional shot, while only 2 p ercent of those who identified as progres- sive said they are unlikely to get a booster. There were also ideological differences related to the actions

of vaccinated people. The poll found that 55 percent of conservatives who have gotten vaccinated said they have not limited their interactions with unvaccinated friends and family, while 27 percent of moderates and 17 percent of progressives said they have not limited their interactions. Maryland residents have wide- ranging expectations on whe n they think the country will get the coronavirus under con- trol and be able to “return to normal .” Five percent said things are already back to normal, while 2 in 10 said they will be normal within the next six months. Near- ly 3 in 10, 28 percent, said things will be normal in the next year, another 29 percent said a year or more, and 16 percent think things never will return to normal. “As a pollster, I wonder what normal looks like for people,” Kromer said. “What do the 16 percent think who think we never will return to normal?” The poll surveyed 700 Mary- land adults from Oct. 14 to 20 and has a m argin of error of plu s or minus 3.7 percentage points. [email protected]

MARYLAND

Vast majority of vaccinated state residents likely to get booster, poll finds

BRIAN WITTE/ASSOCIATED PRESS Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Monday urged all eligible Maryland residents to get a coronavirus vaccine booster as soon as possible.

“Marylanders are,

by and large, still

concerned about

covid. They have a

high vaccination

rate, and those who

are vaccinated want

to get the booster.” Mileah Kromer, associate professor of political science and the director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College

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The Washington Post - USA (2021-10-27)

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