Suspect’s beliefs aligned with neo-Nazis, ex-teacher says
James Alex Fields Jr. texted his mother Friday to say he had dropped his cat off at her Monclova Township home so he could go to an “alt- right” rally in Virginia.
It shocked Samantha Bloom that the 20-year-old Maumee man is now accused of plowing into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing a woman, hurting at least two dozen people and ratcheting up tension in a violent confrontation.
She had returned from dinner Saturday evening unaware that her son was involved and had not yet been contacted by authorities.
“I told him to be careful,” she said of her son’s participation at the rally. “[And] if they’re going to rally to make sure he’s doing it peacefully.”
It didn’t appear that happened, she said tearfully. Fields is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failing to stop at the scene of an accident that resulted in a death.
He is in custody at the Albemarle- Charlottesville Regional Jail and is expected to appear in court Monday to face an array of charges; federal authorities have opened a civil- rights inquiry.
Military records show that Fields entered the Army on Aug. 18, 2015, about the time his mother wrote on Facebook that he had left for boot camp. Less than four months later, on Dec. 11, his period of active duty concluded. It was not clear why he left the military.
Fields was photographed early Saturday marching with Vanguard America, a group whose manifesto declares that ‘‘ a government based in the natural law must not cater to the false notion of equality.’’ The organization denied any ties to Fields.
‘‘ The driver of the vehicle that hit counterprotesters today was, in no way, a member of Vanguard America,’’ the group said in a statement on its Twitter account. ‘‘ All our members had been safely evacuated by the time of the incident. The shields seen do not denote membership, nor does the white shirt. The shirts were freely handed out to anyone in attendance.’’
He had told his mother about the rally last week but didn’t offer details, Bloom said.
“I thought it had something to do with [ President] Trump,” she said. “I try to stay out of his political views. I don’t get too involved.”
Former history teacher Derek Weimer, 45, of Florence, Ky., said he had Fields in three classes directly and had regular interaction with him after classes and during free time at Randall K. Cooper High School.
“It was obvious that 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, history teacher
During a class called “America’s Modern Wars,” Fields wrote a deeply researched paper about the Nazi military during World War II, Weimer said.
“It was obvious that he had this fascination with Nazism and a big idolatry of Adolf Hitler,” Weimer said. “He had white supremacist views. He really believed in that stuff.”
Fields’ father died before he was born, an aunt, Pam Fields, said in an interview Sunday. Pam Fields said she had not seen her nephew, whom she remembered as a ‘‘very quiet little boy’’ more than five times in the past 10 years.
Bloom said her son had moved out of her Toledo home “five or six months ago” and into his own Maumee apartment. She declined to give the address. Bloom said they moved to northwest Ohio from Florence about a year ago for her job.
On May 25 Fields was charged by the Maumee Police Department with having expired or unlawful license plates on the same car connected with Saturday’s attack. He was found guilty of the traffic offense in June.