CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - A federal appeals court has tossed a lawsuit against Charlottesville, its former police chief and the former Virginia State Police superintendent over their response to a white nationalist rally that descended into violence.
The Daily Progress reported Monday that the Richmond-based 4th Circuit denied an appeal last week from Robert Sanchez Turner, who said he attended the 2017 rally to peacefully protest the white nationalists.
The lawsuit said police and state troopers watched but didn’t intervene as Turner was approached by “KKK members/sympathizers,” who sprayed him with mace and beat him.
The appellate court wrote that it agreed with a U.S. district court judge, who found there was no constitutional right supporting Turner’s claims and that the defendants had qualified immunity.
Turner was seeking an unspecified amount of punitive damages.
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