Man charged in alt-right rally to argue self-defense
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — An Ohio man charged with killing a woman during a white nationalist rally in Virginia plans to argue that he believed he was acting in self-defense when he drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters.
A lawyer for James Alex Fields Jr. offered a glimpse of the defense strategy as jury selection began Monday in Charlottesville, fifteen months after this quiet Virginia city became a flash point for race relations in the U.S.
The “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, rally drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville, where officials planned to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hundreds more showed up to protest against the white nationalists.
The two sides began brawling before the rally got underway, throwing punches, setting off smoke bombs and unleashing chemical sprays. Later, 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed when a car authorities say was driven by Fields plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters.
Afterward, President Donald Trump enflamed racial tensions when he said “both sides” were to blame, a comment some saw as a refusal to condemn racism.
Fields’ attorney John Hill told a group of prospective jurors Monday the jury will hear evidence that Fields “thought he was acting in self-defense.”
Hill asked if any of the prospective jurors believe using violence in selfdefense is never appropriate.
Nearly all of the 68 prospective jurors in the first group to be questioned said they had read or heard about the case.
About 20 people said they had formed an opinion in the case. When asked if their opinion was so strong they could not put it aside and decide the case based only on the evidence, no hands were raised.