Troutman Sanders Seeks Sanction for Neo-Nazi’s Online Comments About a Partner
A partner with Troutman Sanders in Richmond, Va., testified Wednesday that a neo-Nazi’s online comments about his role in a fair-housing suit have upended his home life.
Lawyer Kevin Mottley told a Norfolk federal court that after the post he and his wife began to get strange phone calls and now his wife is afraid to leave the house, the Roanoke Times reports. Mottley’s firm is asking a court to impose sanctions and a possible fine against neo-Nazi activist William White.
Motley represents black tenants who contend a landlord used racial slurs against them and subjected them to curfews that white tenants didn’t have to follow. White is accused of interjecting himself into case when he wrote to some of the plaintiffs, using the N-word to describe them. Mottley and other lawyers for the tenants then subpoenaed computer records from White, who responded by posting Mottley’s home address and phone number.
Mottley said White’s message told reporters not to harass him, but he viewed the implicit message as encouragement to do the opposite, the newspaper says. White wrote: “Do not send them ‘hate fliers’ or nooses. Do not call and record them and place those phone calls on YouTube. Do not open credit cards in their name, empty their bank accounts by Internet, hack their e-mails.”
Mottley testified he considered the post to be a threat and he was forced to engage off-duty police to guard his home, the Virginian-Pilot reports.
White’s lawyer, Harry Brown of Roanoke, says in court papers that White’s words may appear despicable, but they are not prohibited or illegal. White told the court that his online comments are meant as satire and they have been misconstrued.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which has intervened on the tenants’ behalf, says sanctions are not warranted because White did not violate a court order or misbehave in court. It says the better remedy would be an injunction against additional threats.
