Sealed Plaintiff 1 v. Patriot Front

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SEALED PLAINTIFF 1, and SEALED PLAINTIFF 2, Plaintiffs, v. PATRIOT FRONT, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:22-cv-00670

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Richmond Division

March 31, 2024

MEMORANDUM OPINION

M Hannah Lauck, United States District Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants Nathan Noyce Thomas Dail, Paul Gancarz, Daniel Turetchi, and Aedan Tredinnick's (collectively “Defendants”)^[1] Amended Motion to Dismiss (the “Motion” or “Motion to Dismiss”). (ECF No. 102.)^[2] Sealed Plaintiff 1 and Sealed Plaintiff 2 (“Plaintiffs”) responded in opposition to the Motion, (ECF No. 106), and Defendants replied, (ECF No. 107). On March 27,2024, the Court heard oral argument.

The matter is ripe for disposition. For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny Defendants' Motion in its entirety. (ECF No. 102.)

I. Factual and Procedural Background

A. Summary of Allegations in the First Amended Complaint^[3]

1. Patriot Front's Ideology and Connection to Vandalism

The First Amended Complaint (the “Amended Complaint”) states that Patriot Front, a white supremacist^[4] group, “calls for the formation of a white ethnostate.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 1.) The group formed in 2017 after “splinter[ing] from Vanguard America, one of the central white supremacist groups that marched at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 14.) At the time Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint, Patriot Front's website promoted its mission of “a hard reset on the nation we see today - a return to the traditions of our [European] forefathers” who “left their European homes... [and who] found a common cause and a common identity as Americans.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 1 (alterations in original).)

Patriot Front published an online manifesto to articulate its ideology. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 12.) This manifesto provides that “‘the varied nations and cultures of Europe forged [the United States] in the flames of conquest,' and that true Americans share a ‘pan-European identity.'” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 12.) According to Patriot Front, ‘“[t]o be an American is to be a descendant of conquerors .... This unique identity was given to us by our [European] ancestors, and this national spirit remains firmly rooted in our blood.'” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 12 (alterations in original).) Patriot Front advertises its ideology “through masked marches and vandalism, which it calls ‘activism.'” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 15.) The Plaintiffs allege that “[Responding to directives from the group's leaders, Patriot Front's members have defaced murals honoring Black Americans, targeted LGBTQ+ events, and destroyed public and private property as part of their campaign to promote their extreme” beliefs. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 2.)

Through its marches and acts of vandalism, Patriot Front has “intimidated communities based on race and sexual orientation across the country and deterred community members from accessing public amenities.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 2.) Patriot Front has been connected to “dozens of acts of property damage and defacement of public art that supports racial justice and LGTBQ+ inclusion all over the country.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 16.) For example, “[f]rom August through October, 2021, Patriot Front members vandalized murals honoring Black lives in Norfolk, VA, Raleigh, NC, Lafayette, IN, St. Paul, MN and elsewhere”, including Richmond. (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 3,20.)

Patriot Front, through its members and affiliates, also damages and defaces property by placing Patriot Front stickers and spray-painting Patriot Front logos and insignia, using stencils, on the property. (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 16-18.) “Patriot Front's leadership ... require[s] members” “to publicly place a certain number of Patriot Front stickers and spray-painted stencils” in a community “in order to remain a member in good standing.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 17.) Patriot Front's stickers and stencils are “intentionally branded”, (ECF No. 31 ¶ 18), so that the messaging for any vandalism specifically identifies Patriot Front whether it appears in Richmond or Norfolk Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana, or Minnesota.

Members must receive approval from Patriot Front regional and national leadership before committing “any high-profile acts of vandalism.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 17.) Members must also purchase Patriot Front's stickers and stencils from National Director and Founder Thomas Rousseau, who in turn “distributes every stencil.” (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 17,21, 23.) To ensure the uniformity of Patriot Front's spray-painted logos and insignia, Patriot Front's leadership provides “detailed instructions ... on what color paints to use” as well as instructions “on sharing stencils.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 18.)

2. Patriot Front's Structure

“Patriot Front is well-organized and follows a defined hierarchical structure.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 21.) The organization has geographical chapters, referred to as “networks”, throughout the country. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 22.) The highest-ranking members in each network serve as Network Directors. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 22.) Network Directors report regularly to Thomas Rousseau, the National Director, and bear “responsibility] for organizing and executing” Patriot Front events, including its marches and acts of vandalism. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 22.)

Defendant Paul Gancarz (also known as “Samuel VA”), at all times relevant to this case, served as “Patriot Front's Network Director for the region covering Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Delaware.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 24.) In this role, Mr. Gancarz supervises Patriot Front activities in this region. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 24.) Patriot Front requires him, as Network Director, to approve any large-scale mural cover-ups in his region before members initiate them.

(ECF No. 31 ¶ 24.) Defendants Nathan Noyce (also known as “Roger VA”), Thomas Dail (also known as “Kenneth VA”), Daniel Turetchi (also known as “Grant MD”), and Aedan Tredinnick (also known as “Vincent VA”) served as members of Patriot Front at all times relevant to this case. (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 25, 26,27, 30.)

3. Battery Park and the Arthur Ashe Mural

The City of Richmond owns and manages Battery Park (“Battery Park” or the “Park”), a public park located in Richmond, Virginia near “Jackson Ward, the historically Black center of Richmond.” (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 42,43.) The Park's public amenities include walking paths, “two playgrounds, basketball courts, restrooms, horseshoe pits, a community center that houses a free computer lab, and a swimming pool.” (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 3,42.)

A neighborhood, also named “Battery Park” (the “Battery Park Neighborhood” or the “Neighborhood”), surrounds the Park. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 43.) United Census Bureau data lists the racial composition of zip code 23222, which encompasses the Battery Park Neighborhood, as “77.7% Black and 17.5% White.” (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 6,43.) For many years, Battery Park had “the only public swimming pool [Black residents] felt comfortable using as children” after government-imposed segregation ended and racial tensions in Richmond (and the country) remained fraught. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 44.)

Plaintiffs, both long-term residents of the Battery Park Neighborhood, live near the Park. (ECF No. 31, at ¶¶ 10,11.) Plaintiffs and their families “regularly used the Park and its amenities, including the basketball and tennis courts, playgrounds, and paths, on a near daily basis.” (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 10,11.) They also frequently used the Park's tunnel, which connects the north and south sides of the Park, to access various amenities throughout the Park, including playgrounds and basketball courts. (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 81, 82.)

In July 2017, the Park unveiled “a mural honoring Black tennis star Arthur Ashe” who grew up in segregated Richmond, Virginia. (ECF No. 31 ¶¶ 4, 40, 41, 44.) “In addition to being the first Black man to win the U.S. Open in 1968, Mr. Ashe was a committed humanitarian whose work included establishing the African American Athletic Association and raising money for the United Negro College Fund. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 4.) A group of Black-led local artists completed the mural over approximately three weeks. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 40.)

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(ECF No. 31 ¶ 41.)

Located “at the entrances and inside of a pedestrian tunnel joining south and north ends of the Park,” the mural “depicted images of Mr. Ashe's face and of him holding the trophy after winning Wimbledon in 1975.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 41.) The mural also “listed several of Mr. Ashe's tennis achievements” inside the tunnel. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 41.) “Generations of Black Americans and others have looked up to Mr. Ashe as a role model.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 4.) The mural served as “a symbol” of Battery Park Neighborhood's “support for and pride in Black lives and Black accomplishments.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 49.)

4. Events Predating the Vandalism of the Arthur Ashe Mural

In August 2017, about a month after the mural's unveiling, several white supremacist groups marched at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 14.) At the rally, which occurred approximately an hour's drive away from Richmond, a white supremacist attendee drove a car “into a group of peaceful counter[-]protesters, murdering Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others.” (ECF No. 31 ¶ 45.) A group of counter-protestors who attended the rally later sued the organizers and participants of the rally in the Western District of Virginia federal court. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 46.) The media covered the lawsuit and resulting trial extensively. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 47.) Jury selection for the trial began on October 25,2021. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 47.)

Beginning in the summer of 2021, Patriot Front began targeting the Battery Park community. (ECF No. 31 ¶ 3.) That summer residents of the Battery Park Neighborhood, including Sealed Plaintiff 1, began to notice “that Patriot Front stickers were being...