Car kill suspect ‘a Nazi’
THE man accused of killing one woman and injuring 19 others when he rammed his car into a peaceful crowd of protesters was obsessed with Nazis and idolised Hitler, it emerged yesterday.
The claims came as America’s summer of hate spread to another city, as far-right marchers clashed with counter-protesters in Seattle, a day after the college town of Charlottesville, Virginia, was overrun with violence.
James Alex Fields Jr, 20, is alleged to have ploughed his 2010 Dodge Challenger into the crowd of anti-fascist marchers on Saturday afternoon local time, killing Heather Heyer, 32.
Fields, who was photographed at a rally on Saturday with a shield as he marched with the racist Unite the Right group, has been charged with second degree murder.
The FBI is investigating whether he acted alone, according to a Justice Department official who said domestic terrorism charges were also being planned.
Fields was yesterday unmasked as a long-time far-right supporter, with his former history teacher revealing he espoused pro-Nazi views from a young age. “It was obvious he had this fascination with Nazism and a big idolatry of Adolf Hitler. He had white supremacist views. He really believed in that stuff,” Derek Weimer told The Washington Post.
Mr Weimer said Fields had once submitted a research paper that was a “big lovefest for the German military and the Waffen-SS” while a former classmate said the former soldier often yelled pro-Nazi slogans.
Fields’ mother said she thought her son was at a proTrump rally. “I try to stay out of his political views,” she said.
A friend of Ms Heyer’s yesterday said the paralegal had been worried about attending the march, but went because she wanted to stand up to the racists.
The violence in Virginia ended with more than 35 people injured and also cost the lives of two state troopers whose helicopter crashed as they monitored the protests.