O pinion
adequately measure the risks,
especially in grocery store
environments, it’s even more
necessary to require closer
monitoring. Establishing a
“good neighbor policy” triage
system of checking in on each
other is what’s needed right now
to create a sense of community.

This cost-effective, easy-to-im-
plement strategy begins with
management asking their
employees daily, “Are you OK?
Is there anything you need?”
Embracing the notion that
we’re all in this together will, I
hope, create a stronger sense of
community, especially in retail
and medical environments
where workers may be trapped
in their feelings of loneliness
due to the stress and fear of
potentially being exposed to
the disease. But all too often,
these vulnerable workers end
up “playing it safe”for fear of
losing their jobs.

Establishing an “I’ve got
your back” community-wide
system could be great news for
mental health, as research d
demonstrates an increase in
mental health issues. Recent
case studies have shown that
“the feeling of increased
social support and of being in
this together may help limit
increases in loneliness.” I look
forward to seeing what will
be revealed in future studies
of companies that decide
to implement such “good
neighbor policies.”
Our government needs a
better understanding of these
essential workers — from retail
to medical establishments and
particularly those in custom-
er-facing roles and the risks
they face. Emerging research
shows that these workers are
five times as likely to test
positive as their colleagues
in other positions, which
raises the question of whether
essential workers potentially
exposed to COVID-19 can
manage coronavirus-related
health impacts in their own
lives. Already, many of them
are at an economic disad-
vantage — generally earning
lower wages and carrying
less health-related insurance.

Because of their high risk of
exposure, our country should
regard COVID-19 essential
workers similar to trained
military professionals and
offer a benefits package that
represents their obligations
and dangers.

There are some essential
workers who feel that at the
end of the day, all compa-
nies really only care about
is increased efficiency and
revenue. Even as we’re hoping
for favorable outcomes with
the vaccine rollout, our human
supply chain is breaking and
crumbling. We are not talking
about keeping up with the
supply chain of toilet paper
or wipes. If anything, after
a renewed outbreak globally
with more than 1 million
reported deaths worldwide,
this pandemic will have taught
us the fragility of the human
supply chain.

Our essential workers
are the heart of our global
economy, and without them,
our retail, grocery and hospital
systems would not exist.

Since our essential workers
risk their lives every day to
protect others, our nation and
individual companies should
speak up and show them how
much they matter. l
Dorit Sasson is a certified SEO
content strategist and writing
coach. Her new memoir is “Sand
and Steel: The Spiritual Journey
Home.” STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and let-
ters to the editor published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing
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letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to 215-569-3389. Letters should be a
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published. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Connecting the Dots Between
Charlottesville and the Capitol Riot
BY KAREN DUNN, ROBERTA KAPLAN,
AMY SPITALNICK
THE JAN. 6 ATTACK on the
U.S. Capitol followed a playbook
we’ve seen before.

We know because we’re
bringing the federal lawsuit
against the
neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate
groups responsible for the
Charlottesville violence. With
each new bit of information,
the parallels between Unite
the Right and Stop the Steal
become more alarming. A
straight line can be drawn from
Charlottesville to the Capitol
— and it is imperative, for our
safety and for our democracy,
that we all understand how to
connect the dots.

In August 2017, white
supremacists, neo-Nazis and
other far-right extremists
descended on Charlottesville.

As the evidence in our case
details, the violence that ensued
was no accident. It was metic-
ulously planned for months in
advance in private chat rooms:
a racist, violent conspiracy that
will finally be held accountable
in court later this year.

As with the Charlottesville
attack, what happened at
the Capitol was no accident.

These were not lone wolves
who spontaneously decided to
storm the U.S. Capitol building.

Rather, for weeks in advance,
on both mainstream and fringe
social media sites, these extrem-
ists organized, making clear
that there would be violence if
JEWISH EXPONENT
lawmakers, media, law enforce-
ment and others did not reject
the results of the 2020 election.

One person on the far-right
TheDonald forum asked,
“What if Congress ignores the
evidence?” “Storm the Capitol,”
was the response, with hundreds
of users liking the post. There
were countless similar posts
across various sites.

These posts eerily echo
the Discord chats in which
the Charlottesville violence
was planned, where there was
explicit discussion of hitting
protesters with cars nearly a
month before the attack that
took Heather Heyer’s life and
grievously injured our plaintiffs.

As in Charlottesville, the
Capitol insurrectionists showed
up with weapons and in tactical
gear, prepared for violence.

When these extremists say
they’re going to do something,
we must believe them.

The parallels
with Charlottesville don’t end with
the fact that both were violent
conspiracies planned online.

At the core of both Unite the
Right and Stop the Steal is a vile,
pervasive white supremacy that
includes palpable anti-Semitism.

The motivation for these extrem-
ists’ violence is their bigotry.

Much of this hate is predi-
cated on the idea of the country
being “stolen” from white people.

“Jews will not replace us” was a
direct callout to the vile Great
Replacement theory, which
argues that the white race is
being replaced by people of color,
with Jews as the puppet masters.

In fact, some of the same
white supremacists who terror-
ized Charlottesville showed up
at the Capitol, such as “Baked
Alaska” and Nick Fuentes who
were photographed ransacking
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

One of the chief cheerleaders of
the Capitol attack was neo-Nazi
Andrew Anglin, a central player
in the Charlottesville violence
and a defendant in our suit.

And just as in Charlottesville,
within hours of the violence,
perpetrators defaulted to the
same excuse they used in 2017:
Antifa, even though there is zero
doubt that this was a premedi-
tated far-right extremist attack.

Now, these same extremists
are back online, using the Capitol
attack to recruit. So where do we
go from here? The only path
forward is one of accountability.

Our Charlottesville case
heads to trial this year — and
even before trial, there has
been true accountability for the
leaders of the violence, from
large financial penalties to an
extraordinary evidentiary
sanctions decision and even
jail time. It has deterred many
extremists from participating
in subsequent actions. Richard
Spencer recently complained
that he has been “financially
crippled” by the case, while
other defendants have had to
halt plans for new buildings or
events. But beyond our case and a
handful of individual prosecu-
tions, there has generally been
little accountability for violent
extremism. There is now an
opportunity to make clear the
severe consequences of this
terror. With a new administration
in office, there is an opportu-
nity to bring the full weight of
the federal government to bear
against these extremists —
and ensure that the playbook
seen in Charlottesville and at
the Capitol can never be used
again. l
Karen Dunn is a partner at Paul
Weiss and a former federal
prosecutor in Virginia. Roberta
Kaplan is the founding partner
at Kaplan Hecker Fink LLP. Amy
Spitalnick is the executive director
of Integrity First for America, the
civil rights nonprofit backing the
Charlottesville lawsuit.

JANUARY 21, 2021
15