Virginia riots murder suspect: James Alex Fields appears in court
GETTY • REUTERS James Alex Fields has been accused of murder after a deadly car crash in Charlottesville
A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 people were injured, five critically, on Saturday when a man ploughed a car into a crowd of people protesting against the white nationalist rally in the Southern college town in Virginia. Mr Fields, 20, was arrested shortly after fleeting the scene of the crash, police said. He has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and hit and run.
The Ohio man was described by a former high school teacher as having been "infatuated" with Nazi ideology as a teenager before a failed bid to join the US Army. Mr Fields made his initial court appearance today via a video link from jail. A judge will determine whether he will be granted bail. He had no previous criminal record.
Trump’s not a white supremacist Lea Bloom
His mother Lea Bloom told AP she knew her son was attending a rally in Virginia but didn’t know it was a white supremacist rally. “I thought it had something to do with Trump,” she said. “Trump’s not a white supremacist.” She said she told her son: "I told him to be careful. [And] if they’re going to rally to make sure he’s doing it peacefully." According to The Washington Post, Mr Fields’ father was killed by a drunk driver.
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Mr Fields’ uncle, who did not want his name used, told the newspaper that the suspect's “father was killed by a drunk driver a few months before the boy’s birth". His father left him money that the uncle kept in a trust until Fields reached adulthood. He added: “When he turned 18, he demanded his money, and that was the last I had any contact with him." His uncle told the newspaper that Fields grew up in Kentucky “where he’d been raised by a single mother who was a paraplegic” before going on to describe Mr Fields as “not really friendly, more subdued”.
Derek Weimer, his history teacher at his Kentucky high school, told WCPO-TV that he remembered Fields harbouring "some very radical views on race" as a student and was "very infatuated with the Nazis, with Adolf Hitler". Mr Weimer added: “It was quite clear he had some really extreme views and maybe a little bit of anger behind them.” He also recounted Mr Fields being "gung-ho" about joining the army when he graduated in 2015. The US military confirmed that Fields reported for basic training in August 2015 but was "released from active duty due to a failure to meet training standards in December of 2015".
REUTERS Mr Fields, 20, was arrested shortly after fleeting the scene of the crash
The Army statement did not explain how he had failed to meet training standards. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said the crash was “premeditated” and witnesses said it was a “deliberate act of terrorism”. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has called for the attack to be investigated as an act of domestic terrorism. Vice President Mike Pence condemned the violence, saying: "We have no tolerance for hate and violence from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK. "These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms."
His remarks come after President Trump was slammed for not singling out white supremacism during his press conference on Saturday. Trump said he condemned “in the strongest possible terms” what he called an “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides” after the clashes, calling for “a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives.” A white supremacist rally, Unite the Right, was met by counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday. The governor declared a state of emergency after the rally turned violent.
GETTY A grey Dodge Challenger rammed into the crowd of counter-protesters walking down a street