White Nationalist Convicted Of First-Degree Murder In C’ville Car Attack
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A man who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia has been convicted of first-degree murder.
In delivering its verdict late Friday afternoon, the jury rejected arguments by lawyers for James Alex Fields Jr. that he acted in self-defense.
Prosecutors said Fields drove his car directly into a crowd of counterprotesters at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017, because he was angry after witnessing earlier violent clashes between the two sides. The rally was held to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Fields’ lawyers told the jury he feared for his life after witnessing the violence.
The 21-year-old Fields of Maumee, Ohio, faces up to life in prison at sentencing.
White Nationalist Sentenced To Life In Prison For C’ville Car Attack
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A jury recommended life plus 419 years on Tuesday for a man convicted of killing a woman and injuring dozens when he drove his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.
James Alex Fields Jr. stood stoically with his hands folded in front of him as a court clerk read the verdict, which now must be taken under advisement by the judge, who will issue the final sentence. Judge Richard Moore scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 29.
The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for about four hours over two days. Judges in Virginia often impose the sentence recommended by juries. Under state law, they can impose lower sentences than what the jury recommends, but cannot increase them.
Before issuing its recommendation, the jury asked Moore if the sentences would run consecutively or concurrently. He replied that sentences usually run consecutively, but that jurors could recommend concurrent sentences if they choose.
The jury deliberated for just under two hours Monday after hearing emotional testimony from the mother of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and activist who was killed when Fields rammed his car into a crowd at a “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017.
Jurors also heard from several people who suffered severe injuries. A psychologist testifying for the defense said Fields has a long history of mental health issues, including bipolar disorder.
Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, told the jury her daughter’s death has been like an “an explosion in our family.
“We are forever scarred by the pain,” she said.
Jeanne “Star” Peterson said her life has been “a living nightmare” since she was hit by Fields’ car. Her right leg was shattered, and she’s had five surgeries to try to repair it. She also suffered a broken spine and still hasn’t been able to return to work.
“I will be dealing with the aftermath of Fields’ choices for the rest of my life,” Peterson said.
Fields, 21, drove to Virginia from his home in Maumee, Ohio, to support the white nationalists. After the rally, as a large group of counterprotesters marched through Charlottesville singing and laughing, he stopped his car, backed up, then sped into the crowd, according to testimony from witnesses and video surveillance shown to jurors.
Wednesday Bowie, a counterprotester who got caught on the trunk of Fields’ car when he backed up and was then slammed into a parked truck and thrown to the ground, told the jury that in addition to a broken pelvis and other physical injuries, she has been hospitalized three times for post-traumatic stress disorder over the past year.
She told the jury: “Please know that the world is not a safe place with Mr. Fields in it.”
Testifying for the defense, University of Virginia School of Medicine professor and psychologist Daniel Murrie told the jury that while Fields was not legally insane at the time, he has a long history of mental health issues.
Fields had inexplicable volatile outbursts as a young child and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 6, Murrie said. He was later diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder.
Murrie said Fields went off his psychiatric medication at age 18 and built an isolated “lifestyle centered around being alone.”
A video of Fields shown to the jury during the first phase of the trial showed him sobbing and hyperventilating after he was told a woman had died and others were seriously injured.
Fields’ lawyer Denise Lunsford called him a “mentally compromised individual” and urged the jury to consider his long history of mental health issues when considering a sentence.
The Unite the Right rally had been organized in part to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hundreds of Ku Klux Klan members, neo-Nazis and other white nationalists — emboldened by the election of President Donald Trump — streamed into the college town for one of the largest gatherings of white supremacists in a decade. Some dressed in battle gear.
Afterward, Trump inflamed tensions even further when he said “both sides” were to blame, a comment some saw as a refusal to condemn racism.
According to one of his former teachers, Fields was known in high school for being fascinated with Nazism and idolizing Adolf Hitler. Jurors were shown a text message he sent to his mother days before the rally that included an image of the notorious German dictator. When his mother pleaded with him to be careful, he replied: “we’re not the one (sic) who need to be careful.”
Fields is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of separate federal hate crime charges. No trial has been scheduled yet.
It's funny that in World War 2 this country fought against Nazi's but today these cracka's have started following the ideals that their grandfathers fought against.
VA is kinda weird. NoVA is one of the most mixed places you'll find outside of places like NYC or some of those West Coast cities. The seven cities are pretty black/mixed as is Richmond. Outside of that, it's probably a crap shoot.
we been talking about moving down here....
i swear i wil kill one of them mothefuckers
White Supremacist James Fields Gets Life in Prison For Murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville
The white supremacist who rammed his car into anti-racist protesters at a Charlottesville, Virginia protest in August 2017, killing 32-year-old local activist Heather Heyer in the process, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
James Alex Fields was handed down the sentence while being tried in a federal hate crimes case for his actions at the white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally nearly two years ago while he was 20 years old. While Fields’ sentence came after he pleaded guilty earlier this year of charges tied to the killing of Heyer, he is still set to be sentenced on state charges in July.
In the lead up to US Judge Michael F. Urbanski’s sentencing of Fields, prosecutors broke down the gruesome details of the white supremacist attack and even showed a clip of the exact moment the defendant slammed his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of unsuspecting victims.
Susan Bro, the mother of Heyer, gave a victim impact statement in court, during which she said that she would still like to see Fields “find meds to help his mind to heal.”
“I don’t know if Mr. Fields can ever be trusted in society. I hope he can heal someday and help others heal too,” Bro said.
During an interview with CNN this week, Bro explained that it would “send the wrong message to others if he were to be set free or given a reduced sentence.”
“I know that he had a difficult childhood. I know that he has mental health issues,” she added. “But I’ve known lots of people with those same issues who did not commit murder.”
White Supremacist James Fields Receives Life in Prison For Heather Heyer Killing
"I don't know if Mr. Fields can ever be trusted in society."www.mediaite.com
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