Remember that Unite the Right rally that went down in Charlottesville last year? Who could forget? Videos of an angered neo-nazi plowing through a group of protestors went viral. Heather Heyer was killed in the deadly attack, and the driver, James Alex Fields Jr., was arrested immediately. On August 12, 2017, Fields was driving down Fourth Street when he was stopped by two other cars. The two other vehicles, a sedan and a minivan, had stopped due to protestors walking up the street they were driving down. Fields sat idle before reversing and then accelerating towards the two cars. He plowed through the group of protestors and slammed the cars in front of him, which in turn sent them hurdling at other protestors.
Fields was participating the Unite the Right rally on the day of the attack. The white supremacist group was protesting the proposed removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general. In response, Antifa and others who stood against Confederate ideals showed up to counter-protest. The incident spawned the controversial response from Donald Trump where he claimed that blame could be attributed to both sides, and that there were good and bad people on both the white supremacist side and the opposition.
Fields, who expounded neo-nazi and white supremacist ideals prior to the attack, was recently charged with first-degree murder for killing Heyer. As reported by NPR, Fields was hit with first-degree murder, along with multiple counts of aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding and leaving the scene of an accident. His sentencing is expected to begin Monday, and he could be serving life in prison. Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, and eight victims are anticipated to testify before Fields' sentencing.
