Nobody in the alt-right likes white nationalist Jason Kessler anymore, but he’s the only one to blame for the dismissal of his federal lawsuit against his hometown Tuesday. The Charlottesville resident, who was the mastermind behind 2017’s horrific “Unite the Right” rally, was abandoned by fellow hatemongers Richard Spencer and Christopher Cantwell in the wake of the tiki-torch nightmare that led to the death of 32-year-old counter-protester Heather Heyer last August. That didn’t stop the perpetually unemployed racist from trying to plan a commemorative convening of white supremacists; stopping him was up to the city instead, who denied his permit application in December, citing a risk to public safety.
Undeterred, Kessler filed a federal suit in March, citing violations of his First and 14th Amendment rights. In May, Kessler then applied for a permit to host the rally in Washington, D.C.; the National Park Service has given his application preliminary approval.
Back in Virginia, while the list of white supremacist groups looking to dissociate with Kessler grew, the city of Charlottesville continued to fight against the “Unite the Right 2” rally.
Last week, the city filed new documents with the court explaining why the permit should be denied.
According to city officials, Kessler keeps changing the details of the event, so that it no longer resembles what he originally wanted to do.
The original permit application said Kessler planned to have 400 people attend, but in a recent interview, that number had dropped to about two dozen.
The city also says Kessler has been unclear about whether the event will take place on Aug. 11 or Aug. 12.
Additionally, the city claims Kessler has deleted messages about the planning of the event that he is unable to control what groups may come to participate.
Kessler’s latest motion in the federal case was set to be heard Tuesday, but things didn’t go as planned.
The hearing got off to a rocky start when neither Kessler nor one of his two attorneys were present at the scheduled start time.
Kessler attorney Elmer Woodard told Judge Norman Moon that his co-counsel, Ohio-based attorney James Kolenich, was delayed because of a flight.
Kolenich, a white nationalist who has spoken publicly about his anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant views, arrived 30 minutes late and told the judge he'd been unable to complete a court filing by the deadline.
Kessler was even later, arriving at the hearing nearly 45 minutes late and only after the judge called a recess so his attorneys could locate him.
When Kessler eventually arrived, he informed the judge that he was withdrawing his motion, and the judge dismissed it.
Kessler was reportedly in the courtroom for less than a minute. Local media didn’t catch him as he left the federal courthouse, but his attorney, confirmed bigot Kolenich, wasn’t too busy to chime in; while insisting the withdrawal of the motion was strategic, the attorney also blamed American Airlines for canceling his flight.
Kolenich also was quick to clarify that the withdrawn motion doesn’t signal the end of Kessler’s suit against the city, but not before he spewed a healthy dose of hate.
After the hearing, Kolenich said Kessler did feel bad about the events that happened last year but explained his “personality” prevented him from showing this. He then talked openly about Nazis, Eastern Europe and anti-fascists.
Kolenich told reporters he is an "anti-Semite," saying it did not make him a Nazi or racist, then called the pope a "clown."
Meanwhile, Kessler claims he’s shifting focus to the proposed “White Civil Rights” rally in Washington, D.C.
Should Kessler’s application for the D.C. event be approved, it will be met with great protest. A coalition of at least 18 anti-racism groups have pre-emptively come together against the “Unite the Right 2” rally.
The “DC Against Hate” coalition, which includes racial justice, anti-fascist, and feminist organizations, announced plans to counter Unite the Right in a three-day demonstration.
Their counter-protest this year is scheduled from August 10, the day before Unite the Right, until Unite the Right ends on August 12.
Organizers previously told the Forward they expected more than 1,000 people to attend the DC Against Hate demonstrations. In his permit application for the D.C. rally, Kessler said he anticipates approximately 400 Unite the Right attendees, although the actual figures remain fuzzy.
The National Park Service has yet to issue Kessler a permit. Here’s hoping they don’t. If last year’s UTR events were any indication, the violence could be even worse the second time around.