Nine people who sued white nationalist leaders and organizations over the violence at a deadly rally in Charlottesville in 2017 won a $26 million judgment for the injuries and trauma they endured.

A jury has ordered 17 white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay $26 million in damages over violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

Lawyers for nine people hurt during the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville have told a jury that white nationalists “planned, executed and then celebrated” racially motivated violence that left one counterprotester dead and dozens more injured.

Jury selection has begun at a civil trial in Charlottesville, Virginia to determine whether white nationalists who planned the so-called “Unite the Right” rally will be held responsible for the violence that erupted.

(CNN) - The Senate Tuesday voted overwhelmingly 90 to 8 to confirm President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense, Mark Esper, giving the Pentagon its first permanent chief since James Mattis stepped down in January. Esper, a former army officer and West Point classmate of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also worked as a senior staffer on Capitol Hill. The unprecedented length of time without a permanent secretary of defense had been cited as a problem by both Republican and Democrat lawmakers as well as veterans of the defense department. Esper had to step down as acting secretary following his formal nomination due to regulations. Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer has been performing the acting role as Esper went through the confirmation process, making him the third consecutive acting defense secretary since Mattis resigned.