Four years later, organizers of white supremacist protest take stand in civil trial

The plaintiffs in a civil trial against two dozen organizers of a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville in 2017 "continue to carry around the pain and trauma of Charlottesville" four years later, their lawyer said in opening arguments Thursday.

That trauma centers, in part, around the actions of James Alex Fields, Jr., now serving a life sentence for deliberately plowing his car into a crowd of people. He killed counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, and injured dozens of others, including four plaintiffs, according to the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs include city residents and counter-protesters who sustained injuries following violent clashes that broke out around their campus and city.