A South Carolina circuit judge has ruled a pro-Confederacy group must disband after losing a lawsuit against a Black mother.
The Post and Courier reports the S.C. Secessionist Party, led by James Bessenger, agreed to settle its case with Alicia Greene by dissolving the organization.
Charleston County Court Judge Alex Kinlaw Jr. also ordered the organization to pay $1,000 to the NAACP of Charleston. Additionally, the judge ruled the group would have to pay $3 million to Greene and her two children should it reorganize.
Greene sued the party in 2018 citing emotional distress over a photo of her two children posing with Confederate States of America flags. The Charlotte Observer reports the photo was taken on June 24, 2017, at White Point Gardens in downtown Charleston while she and her family were enjoying a picnic.
Greene says her children, 7 and 8 years old at the time, got away from her after a firetruck came by to respond to a car accident. While she searched for them in the crowd, the children were approached by members of the Secessionist Party and asked to pose with their Confederate flags. The mother's lawsuit claims the children initially refused but were "coerced" to do so.
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The photo was posted to the Secessionist Party's social media page with the hashtags #Dixie Rising and #TeachTheYouthTheTruth. Green learned of it when concerned friends and family tagged her in the post's comments.
Although the photo was taken down, Greene said that she and her children faced enormous backlash, including responses that caused her to fear for her and her children's safety. Greene claimed emotional distress was brought on by the exploitation and defamation of her children by the group.
Kinlaw, Greenville's first elected Black judge, was reportedly exasperated by the case, stating that he was frustrated “we are still dealing with that kind of stuff.”
"If we just love one another, all of this stuff will go away,” Kinlaw added.
Bessenger, the leader of the 25,000-member group, has long claimed the party's purpose is for historical education, not hate. However, he agreed with Kinslaw's ruling, stating he feels his club is taking a racist, neo-Nazi turn he had neither anticipated nor desired.
WBTW reports the group has six months to dissolve the organization and its online presence.
“We have no doubt that while we have financially bankrupted a morally bankrupt organization, hate still exists," said Roy Willey IV, Greene's attorney. "People will still appear with hate in their hearts and with the flag. But today is a very big step forward in the right direction for our community.”
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