CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Marissa Blair and Marcus Martin married on a breezy, sunny day in May 2018 under an arbor draped with purple and lavender wisteria, the colors chosen in tribute to the friend they had lost nine months earlier.
At the time, they saw their union as an act of resistance, a tender coda to the hate and horror that shook the nation and their lives when, on Aug. 12, 2017, a self-avowed white supremacist intentionally plowed his car into social justice protesters, killing their friend Heather Heyer and injuring 35 people, including Martin.
But since that spring wedding, their marriage hasunraveled as they wrestled with the lasting trauma and physical effects of the car attack, they told jurors last week in a federal civil trial unfolding here against two dozen white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and organizations behind the deadly “Unite the Right” rally.
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