Bilist mejade ner antifascistiska demonstranter (2017-08-12)

An Ohio man pleaded not guilty to federal hate-crime charges Thursday in a deadly car attack on a crowd of protesters opposing a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

James Alex Fields Jr. entered the plea during his initial appearance in U.S. District Court here after being charged last week with 30 federal crimes in the Aug. 12 violence that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured dozens more. He also is charged under Virginia law with murder and other crimes.

Fields, 21, of the Toledo suburb of Maumee, Ohio, wore a gray striped jumpsuit and sat quietly, giving brief answers to the judge’s questions.

Jury selection begins today in the trial of the man accused of ramming his car through a crowd of people protesting a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. James Alex Fields, Jr. is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer, and faces additional charges of malicious wounding.
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Authorities say Fields, a 21-year old white man from Ohio, deliberately plowed his car into the anti-racist demonstration and say he had earlier participated in the rally with chants promoting white supremacy.

Fields has pleaded not guilty. His court-appointed defense attorney, Denise Lunsford, declined to comment on the case.

Lunsford has sought to have the trial moved outside of Charlottesville, arguing the impact of the event on local residents and widespread publicity will prevent Fields from getting a fair and reasonable trial.

The man charged with ramming his car into a crowd during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville has been sentenced to life in prison, according to The Associated Press.

James Alex Fields had his sentencing hearing in federal court in Virginia, in the same town where his 2017 car ramming led to the death of a female counter-protester, Heather Heyer, and injured others.

Fields, who is now 22, already pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 federal hate crimes in March. The Associated Press reports that in part of the plea deal that he reached at the time, the prospect of a death sentence was removed.

An avowed white supremacist was sentenced to life plus 419 years on federal hate crime charges Monday for deliberately driving his car into anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

James Alex Fields Jr., 22, received the sentence for killing one person and injuring dozens during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017.

Fields was sentenced last month to life in prison on 29 federal hate crime charges.