'Stick to the facts': Richard Spencer cut off by judge multiple times in Charlottesville opening statement

According to a report from Business Insider, the judge overseeing the trial of white nationalist Richard Spencer was forced to cut him off multiple times during his opening statement -- telling him at one time to "stick to the facts."

Spencer, who acting as his own attorney because he reportedly can't afford counsel, is one of 25 defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in Charlottesville, Virginia over the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally that culminated in the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer.

As the report notes, Spencer and his co-defendants are being sued by "a group of nine Charlottesville residents and counter-protestors who were injured in the car attack and other instances of violence at the two-day rally' with the plaintiffs alleging the White nationalist organizers "conspired to incite violence, and are seeking compensatory and statutory damages for their injuries caused to them."

As for Spencer, the report notes that he went off on tangents during his opening remarks which led to Judge Norman K. Moon cutting him off and telling him to stay on topic.

"During Spencer's opening statement, Judge Norman K. Moon first cut off the white nationalist when he said that he had never been arrested in relation to violence at the rally. Whether anyone was arrested was irrelevant because the plaintiffs brought a civil lawsuit, Moon said," Insider is reporting. "Moon cut Spencer off a second time when he began ranting about Black Lives Matter protests that took place in summer 2020, which he said 'eventuated in vandalism, looting, violence,' and 'riots.'"

Spencer was admonished a third time when he began to complain about the trial and wondered about the long-term effect it would have on "justice," which, in turn, earned him a rebuke from the judge.

"We're not sending a message here," Moon told Spencer. "The question is, do the claimants prove what they must prove to hold the defendants liable?"

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