Editing Jason Kessler (section)

===Charlottesville and beyond===
[[File:Kessler_Unite_the_Right.jpeg|thumb|left|296px|Kessler at the first Unite the Right rally.|link=Special:FilePath/Kessler_Unite_the_Right.jpeg]]Kessler was one of the organizers of the Unite the Right rally on August 12, 2017. The rally was a protest of the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee, a cause Kessler had taken up a year earlier when he began his crusade against Bellamy. Kessler was also involved in a smaller protest of the removal of the statue on May 14, 2017, which ended in a torch-lit march. At this event, he was arrested for failure to obey an officer's commands. On July 11, Kessler appeared at town hall to promote his rally, but also distance himself from another rally that was held by the Loyal White Knights of the [[Ku Klux Klan]].

On July 25, Kessler and most speakers scheduled to attend the rally were described by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as alt-right leaders. The ADL's director said that Kessler was listed because of both his statements and his activities. Kessler responded by calling the ADL hypocritical for "attacking uppity whites when they support the ethno-state of Israel" and saying he was "happy to be considered the enemy of the ADL".

On August 7, the city manager attempted to change the location of the rally, away from Emancipation Park towards McIntire Park. The city manager confirmed that Kessler had a First Amendment right to protest but stressed the city's need to protect public safety. On August 10, the Rutherford Institute and the Virginia state branch of the ACLU supported Kessler in an injunction lawsuit, later known as Kessler v City of Charlottesville, in the United States District Court. They pointed out that "Two other groups that oppose Kessler's message, which have called on thousands of protesters to attend, have been granted permits by the city for downtown parks close to Emancipation Park on August 12." Arguments were heard in Judge Glen Conrad's courtroom on the afternoon of August 11. The court enjoined the city from revoking Kessler's permit to conduct a demonstration at Emancipation Park on August 12, and the rally went ahead.

The rally on August 12 turned violent and resulted in the death of Heather Heyer, when attendee [[James Alex Fields Jr.]] drove at high speed into a crowd of counter-protestors several blocks from the rally. On the day following the rally Kessler attempted to hold a news conference in front of Charlottesville City Hall which was quickly overtaken by protesters. However, before ending the short news conference Kessler stated "I disavow any political violence and what happened yesterday was tragic." He also posted videos online in which he blames the city for the violence and death.

On August 18, 2017, Kessler contradicted his previous statement by tweeting "Heather Heyer was a fat, disgusting Communist. Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time."<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-charlottesville-organizer-20170818-story.html Tweet from the account of Charlottesville rally organizer insults slain protester Heather Heyer], ''Los Angeles Times''</ref> The next morning Kessler repudiated the tweet and blamed Ambien, Xanax, and alcohol for the tweet. He received criticism for the tweet from other white nationalists including [[Richard B. Spencer]] and [[Tim Gionet]]. Kessler subsequently deleted his Twitter account. Hacker and internet troll [[Andrew Auernheimer]], a.k.a. Weev, later claimed that he hacked Kessler's Twitter account.

Kessler was allowed to move to Ohio in October 2018. Earlier that month, Kessler was arrested on suspicion of [[doxxing]] after local anti-racist activist Emily Gorcenski was swatted and reported the incidents to the police.

On September 6, 2018, a jury in Charlottesville ordered Jeffrey Winder to pay a fine of $1 and no jail time for the misdemeanor assault charge against Kessler that took place on August 13, 2017. Winder had appealed his original February 2018 guilty finding, which included a 30-day jail sentence.

In November 2017, Kessler applied for a permit to hold another rally in Charlottesville in August 2018, on the anniversary of the first march. In December 2017, the city of Charlottesville denied the permit, writing that Kessler's application "likely underestimates the number of participants" and that "no reasonable allocation of city funds or resources" could guarantee a violence-free event. Kessler sued the city, and in June 2018, Kessler sought a temporary injunction from the court to permit a rally in Emancipation Park on the anniversary. On June 24, 2018, during a court hearing, Kessler unexpectedly dropped plans to hold a rally in Charlottesville, and posted plans on Twitter for a rally in Washington, D.C. On August 3, 2018, after withdrawing his request for an injunction, Kessler voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville.

[[File:Unite_the_Right_2.jpeg|thumb|left|271px|Kessler speaking at Unite the Right 2.|link=Special:FilePath/Unite_the_Right_2.jpeg]]Kessler later applied for and obtained a permit to hold a "Unite the Right 2" anniversary rally in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., across from the White House. In addition to Kessler, politician and former Ku Klux Klan leader [[David Duke]] was set to address the rally participants.

However, other far-right individuals and groups who participated in the first Unite the Right rally – including Richard B. Spencer, the [[League of the South]], [[Christopher Cantwell]], [[Andrew Anglin]], and militia groups – indicated that they would not attend the anniversary rally, having distanced themselves from Kessler, who holds "pariah status among his fellow racists".

In late August, a live stream video surfaced of Kessler in which he revealed that due to numerous lawsuits filed against him, he has moved in with his parents. Kessler's father can be heard in the video berating him and demanding that he stop recording white supremacist content in his father's room.<ref>[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/15/17692552/charlottesville-unite-the-right-jason-kessler-father The organizer of the Charlottesville rally just got humiliated by his own father], ''Vox''</ref>