Suspect indicted on hate crime charges in Virginia rally attack
RICHMOND, Va. — The man accused of plowing a car into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., killing a woman and injuring dozens more, now faces federal hate crime charges.
The Department of Justice announced that an indictment returned Wednesday charges James Alex Fields Jr., 21, of Maumee, Ohio, with 30 crimes, including one count of a hate crime resulting in the death of Heather Heyer, and 28 other hate crimes involving an attempt to kill dozens of other people who were injured. One of those injured was Bellaire High School graduate Natalie Romero.
“Last summer’s violence in Charlottesville cut short a promising young life and shocked the nation,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “Today’s indictment should send a clear message to every would-be criminal in America that we aggressively prosecute violent crimes of hate that threaten the core principles of our nation.”
Authorities have said Fields, described by a former teacher as having a keen interest in Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, drove his speeding car into a group of people demonstrating against the “Unite the Right” rally Aug. 12 that drew hundreds of white nationalists to the college town, where officials planned to remove a Confederate monument.
Fields already faces state charges including first-degree murder and is set to face a jury trial later this year. The car attack came after the rally had descended into chaos — with brawling between attendees and counterdemonstrators.
The eight-page indictment alleges Fields decided to attend the rally on or before Aug. 8. As he prepared to leave to travel to Charlottesville, a family member sent him a text message urging him to be careful, the indictment said.
Fields then attended the rally Aug. 12, engaging in chants promoting white supremacist and other racist and anti-Semitic views, the indictment said.
After authorities forced the crowd to disband, Fields drove his car toward the area where a “racially and ethnically diverse crowd” had gathered to protest, the indictment said.
“Fields rapidly accelerated through a stop sign and across a raised pedestrian mall, and drove directly into the crowd,” it said.